One Bloody Kiss
by Kirashound
Summary: Sina City; beautiful by day and deadly by night especially with the Sabbath around, this Eren learns first hand after being attacked by and subsiquently turned into a vampire. What will Levi do now that he has a neophyte to take care of? How will he react to his own conflicted feelings about the infuriatingly alluring young blood he sired out of pity. Riren. AU.
1. Prologue

The moon was full and bright that over cast night in October, but only the faintest sliver of it could be seen through the clouds. Rain misted down in Gelid curtains, wind biting mercilessly through thin clothing and robbing anyone unlucky enough to be caught by its gusts of their body heat. They ran through the streets of Sina city with their heads bowed against the storm, eyes screwed shut and hands clutching at the edges of their coats to keep them closed. Running out of buildings and into cabs. Running out of cabs and into buildings. All the while not sparing even the most fleeting of glances in the direction of the alleyway where he lay dying in a pool of his own blood even as it froze to the dirty uneven ground.

"Please," his voice was hoarse, cracking around the viscous slash across his throat. "Someone. Anyone. Help me." Suddenly, an angel sent by Heaven, or more likely a Demon sent from Hell, emerged from the shadows into his collapsing line of sight; another of the very same creatures that had attacked him and left him in this state, but this one was different both in its actions and its looks. It was male, that much he could tell, and seemed from his position to be at least a thousand feet tall. The Vampire stared down at him silently with cold eyes that glowed gold instead of red. "Help me! Please!"

"There is only one way to help you now, and once it is done there is no turning back." The voice confirmed his assumption that the creature was indeed male; it was deep and smooth and strong.

"I…don't want to die. I'm too young." Tears burned his eyes and spilled down his face; he didn't have the strength anymore to fight them off.

"…Very well, though you make a deal with the Devil which you will no doubt come to regret very soon." Cutting his skin with his fangs and drawing blood, he knelt beside him and lifted his chin; pressing his cold lips to his own still barely warm ones, he forced the foul tasting blood down his throat. A blazing fire began to burn through his veins as the man withdrew, wiping the small stream of blood that had escaped the side of his mouth away with the back of his hand. "Remember that you asked for this," was the last thing that he heard before the past consumed him and he lost consciousness entirely.


	2. Fate in the Cards

_"I don't follow."_

_ "What do you mean?" the blonde asked curiously, his blue eyes confused._

_ "Aren't you supposed to be the realistic, factual one of the group?" Mikasa inquired calmly. "Why are you suddenly dragging us to a Fortune Telling? Since when have you been supersticious?"_

_ "I'm not," he laughed. "Halloween is in a week Mikasa; at 21 the three of us are too old to go trick or treating, so instead of making costumes I thought we could do something else. It was this or a haunted house, and after what happened last year I think it's safe to say we both are well informed about how our eclectic artist feels about those." Both shared a moment of quiet laughter over the memory of the Brunets reaction to being dragged to the haunted house Erebos. "Where is Eren anyway?"_

_ "In bed, where else? We both know he's far from a morning person."_

_ "Well, our appointment with the Psychic is in 20 minutes, so we should probably go wake him."_

_ "We should," Mikasa agreed, leaving her tea at the table and leading Armin-childhood friend of both herself and her adoptive brother-up the stairs and pushed open the door of his bedroom to find themselves confronted with a certifiable disaster zone; penciles, pastels, makers, and tubes of paint in a violent array of colors-both full and empty-littered the floor in a three inch layer; discarded papers, some crumpled, some not, some with color plans and others with concept art, floated atop the ocean of color like little white islands. Paint was smeared across everything; the wooden floors were streaked with orange, the ceiling was spattered with pink and the walls had so much red splashed onto them that one would think they'd unwittingly walked into the scene of a violent murder. Canvases, some used and others blank, hung crooked on pegs on the walls, or were propped in the corners, or leaned against easles, or simply thrown carelessly onto furniture such as the bed on which Eren himself was currently sprawled with his limps splayed every which way and his mouth hanging open, chocolate colored hair in a rumpled mess. A smudge of paint-bright yellow and, knowing him, acrylic-had dried across his forehead._

_ "This is the reason sleepovers are normally not done at my brother's place."_

_ "At least he attempted a cleanup this time," Armin said with a snicker. "Remember last time? We were waist deep in art supplies the minute we stepped in the door."_

_ "The life of a starving artist." Of course neither of the Yeager children were anywhere close to starving. Eren's mother had died when he was only 10 years old in a car accident, and his father-Grisha-wasn't often around due to his work as a renowned physician, but he sent them both more than enough money for everything they could possibly need and want._

_ "So, who's going to poke him awake this time?"_

_ "Poking takes too long; like you said, we only have 20 minutes." Grabbing one of his feet without hesitation she pulled with all her might, yanking her brother out of his bed and onto the floor with a muffled grunt of 'ouch!'. It wasn't long before a pair of teal-green eyes were glaring up at them in sleepy reproach from the floor. _

_ "What the hell was that for, Mikasa?"_

_ "For not waking up in time," she replied, entirely unruffled. "We have to get across town in 20 minutes or we'll miss our appointment. Get changed." She paused for a moment before pointing to her forehead. "You'll want to wash that off your face."_

_ "My face?" Catching sight of himself in the mirror, the indignance vanished from his expression. "Oh. Paint."_

_ "Paint." She confirmed, watching him pick himself off the floor and head to the bathroom with a change of clothes in hand. A few minutes of the sound of running water later, a changed and paint-free Eren emered. "Everyone ready?"_

_ "We've been ready for the better part of an hour," Armin teased, earning a playful punch in the arm from his friend. The trio left the apartment quickly, hurrying through the cold fall air to pile into Eren's little four door with their jackets in tow. _

_ "I hope this isn't a repeat of that stupid haunted house you dragged me all the way to freaking New Orleans for!" He grumbled as he began to drive, making the others laugh._

_ "For something 'lame', it sure had you pretty scared. You hadn't grabbed my hand like that since we were 10, Eren."_

_ "Shut up!" He yelped, ears burning with his blush, he grumbled something that sounded like 'why am I always the butt of your jokes?' as the car pulled to a stop and the engine cut out. The little house that they had rolled to a stop in front of, for that was what it was, was very run down and in a state of sever disrepair; it squatted at the edge of the roadside just outside the city limits like an unclean vagrant, empty windows glaring out at any passers-by. A collective shudder went through the trio as they stood there, hesitating. "Well," Eren finally said, dark brown hair blowing into his eyes as he stepped forward. "No sense in missing our appointment since we're already here." The front door was thrown wide before he could even so much as touch the knocker, revealing a tall woman dressed entirely in purple with long brown hair done up into a messy style halfway between a ponytail and a bun a wide almost manic eyes glittering behind a pair of glasses that magnified them to ten times their normal size. Their fortune teller. Hanji._

_ "I've been expecting the three of you."_

_ Obviously; they had an appointment after all. Eren lead the others through the door. 'Was she waiting by the door for us?' he wondered. 'Must not get much business, I guess.' The inside of the house was much bigger than it had appeared from outside, the warm almost stale air smelling strongly of pungent spices. A door to a darkened stair case was slightly open, and from it emanated the smell of bleach so strong it momentarily made his head spin. They passed by what looked like a dining, and his eyes went immediately to the tipped over glass containing a thick red substance that looked disturbingly like blood. 'Wow, I'm really letting this Halloween thing go too far. I'm starting to hallucinate to the point where spilled wine looks like spilled blood. She's a fortune teller not a Vampire, dumb ass!' They finally reached a back room and the so called fortune teller seated herself behind a little table bearing up a crystal ball and looked at them expectantly._

_ "Whose future should I tell first?" Mikasa was the one to work up the courage the quickest and step forwards,remaining expressionless through her palm reading and Tarot drawing which both foretold of sorrow and confusion at the loss of one who she loved deeply; she whispered a charge of "quack" as Armin took her place. Finally, it was Eren's turn; he crossed the room with marked hesitation, sitting down in the chair and extending his arm towards the excentric woman. The fortune teller took his arm, staring down at his palm intently. After a moment he expression shifted to confusion, and then concern. "Silent. They speak not but of dead ends for you; no future for me to read." Releasing his hand, she spread the tarot cards face down on the table. "Draw one. ONLY one." He did as he was told, turning it over to reveal the skeletal figure astride a palid horse. 13. Death. "Don't be concerned, boy. Death can mean many things, such as a change of your perspective. Only rarely does it truly mean as it seems." Pulling it from his hand, she reshuffled. "Draw again." The same card. She reshuffled. "Again." Death. "Hmm." Hanji frowned, setting aside the seemingly jinxed deck and replacing it instead with one pattered in red and black. "I'm going to prick your finger, and then you will draw two cards from the deck. All will be determined then." He didn't exactly like the idea, but it was too late to protest; blood welled against his skin as a sharp needle pricked the tip of his finger. "Go ahead, boy. Let us see if fate would choose the night for you." Eren's hand shook visibly as he reached out and flipped over a card. 15. But instead of the Devil, as it would be in a normal deck, it bore a depiction of a fanged skull crying tears of blood and read Sabbath. "One more, boy." Swallowing thickly, he drew his final card and turned pale on being confronted with the familiar 13. But this time instead of death it red Dracula, and showed a heraldic dragon emblazoned on a black shield crossed over by a bloodied longsword. "Rivaille? How strange to think he has a hand in this."_

_ "Is…is it bad?" Eren squeaked, not entirely sure he really wanted to know. For a long time Hanji simply stared at him without answering, and then she sighed. "Until Hallow's End has passed, do not go outside at night alone."_

"AGH!" Sitting bolt upright, his forehead connected with something very solid and painful, sending him down again to lay sprawled on his back for a few moments in the interior of what he swiftly realized was a coffin. He'd been buried alive, and yet where panic should have consumed him for some reason he didn't fell at all upset, as if it were entirely normal to wake underground after…just how long had he been asleep anyway? Eren raised a hand to lay it palm down against the lid, momentarily transfixed by how the once tan skin had become as pale as something dead, then he pushed with all his strength. _Crack_ went the wood as the nails gave way and the lid rose slightly, allowing in crumbling dirt and the overpowering stench of wet soil, decaying leaves and ground water, which assaulted his greatly enhanced senses and left him momentarily dazed; he pushed again, a little harder, unseating the lead even more and sending another tiny avalanche of dirt clods raining down on his ripped and bloodied clothing. Overcome by the sudden instinctual desire to dig, he wriggled his way out of the small hole and tore and claw at the dirt with claw tipped hands, not caring much that his nails were becoming cracked and dirty as he broke the surface and pulled himself out of the embrace of the earth into the open air. The sunlight blinded him, drawing an involuntary hiss of discomfort as it seared his suddenly very sensitive skin. A thirst unlike anything he'd ever felt before raged in the back of his throat, and it sent his entire being reeling in pain as he stumbled to his feet, ears cueing in on the conversation taking place in the familiar little house in the backyard of which he now found himself.

"So his cards were right then?" he recognized the voice as belonging to the odd fortune teller; managing to steady himself slightly and make his legs move, he began to stumble towards the house.

"So it would seem, it's just as you predicted." Another voice; a males that he didn't recognize. "You've always been right before."

"Shitty glasses having doubts?" that was a voice he recognized immediately; the sound of it made him go suddenly still as he focused in on it like a pointer before resuming his drunken stumble at a slightly faster pace. Golden eyes. Black hair. Long fingers closed around the door hand, wrenching the back door open as he feet stumbled up the little steps, falling again as he reached the top and at last made it inside.

"Doubts? Not at all? But the Blood Deck can be incredibly unpredictable, and…I didn't expect you to go and chose an heir with absolutely no warning. You don't exactly strike me as the nurturing type."

"Call it pity," the voice hissed in return. "And allow me to ask you for the thousandth time not to bring that royalty bullshit up again. It's best my former subjects continue thinking that Dracula is dead."

"Rivaille," the first male interviened delicately, "I'm not entirely sure that you knew what you were doing when you sired him. That you were aware of exactly what it would mean for you. For him."

"…Not particularly, but what the hell kind of Strigoi would I be if I let a Human die in a puddle of his own blood at my feet on that filthy disgusting alley floor as he begged me to save him! I couldn't do nothing, Erwin!"

"That aside, it can still be averted. Once he feeds off you the bond is made and there's no turning back; he'll be your charge, and responsibility, for the next 100 years. He'll depend on you for nearly everything. Are you sure that you want something like that on your shoulders?"

"You're right when you say that I had no clue what the flying flaming fuck I was getting myself into when I saved the poor bastard, but I'm not about the push the brat off on you. Besides you, Erwin, and Hanji both already have a gaggle of brats between you. I think I can manage one."

"Are you sure about this? The cards…they didn't give us clear answers on him. He's a complete wild card, Levi."

"Then who better to handle him that the former King of the Sabbath and first of the Vampires. I traded my soul to the devil himself for immortality, Hanji. I think I can handle a neophyte." A pause. "He's awoken."

"We'll leave it to you, then." The blonde man and the fortune teller that he was standing with vanished as if up in smoke, leaving the raven alone in the room as he turned towards Eren, who had just stumbled into the sitting room after pushing open the door. His reflection in the mirror was the first thing that he noticed; dead white skin smeared in streaks of rust colored dried blood, tattered clothing hanging off his frame in filthy shreds, brown hair a complete and utter mess, once green eyes now feral sanguine red and black, thin lipped mouth now sporting an enormous pair of deadly fangs. He reacted to the elder Vampire's presence only after he'd risen from his seat on the couch. Surprising in stature not in that he was tall but rather that he wasn't, standing at what couldn't be more than 5'3", he had raven hair cut in two lengths and eyes the color of cooled steel; grey with flecks of blue. He wore what looked to be some sort of military uniform, and around his neck was secured a spotless white cravat.

"So, shitty brat, I suppose I should start this off by asking your name."

"Eren."

"Eren?" he raised an eyebrow. "What, no last name?"

"Eren Yeager."

"That's better." A pause. "My name is something that you've doubtlessly heard of at least once before, even Human as you were. Vladimir Dracula; it's my understanding that a great number of inaccurate stories and movies were made off of me? That aside, I haven't gone by my true name in years; the Sabbath, my former subjects, tried to have me assassinated and as such it's best that they think they succeeded until everything is ready for my revenge. I go by Levi Revaille now, not that that really matters to you. You'll refer to me as Sir or Heichou, just as the other neophytes do. Am I clear?"

"Y-Yes Sir."

"Do you remember anything of what happened to you, Eren?"

"I was…attacked. By a monster."

"Did you see it?"

"…Not really."

"Is there anything you remember?"

"It's eyes. They were…red."

"…Human eyesight is terrible in the darkness; the very reason we hunt you by night." He motioned with a hand as he set off towards the door that lead to the stair case. "Walk with me." Eren obeyed, something telling him not to test the elder's patience. "You're confused, surely, so allow me to begin by explaining the basics to you brat. The creature that attacked you, as I'm sure you gathered, was a Vampire. A Sabbath; one of the greater population of our kind who are pure of blood, born Vampires. They consider themselves above turned ones such as yourself, and look upon Humans as nothing more than meat. I, too, am a Vampire as I told you. Once I was a Sabbath, but that was long ago. I am Strigoi now, a member of sect who believe in the preservation and protection of the Human race."

"So you're good vampires?"

He laughed at this. "It is for selfish reasons, brat. No Humans, no food. We die out."

"I see."

"I have forsaken my title as Blood Lord long ago, but I still bear the Romanian Dragon as my symbol; you will wear it now as a mark that, should you do something wrong, your punishment falls to me. And me only. I found you dying in that alley, sired you into this life by feeding you a bit of my blood in what is known as the 'Vampire's Kiss'. You are now known as what is known as a Neophyte, of Young Blood. You are a new born in all respects, and everything must be taught to you anew. As I am responsible for your creation, said responsibility falls to me. I will also serve as a source of blood for you until your own body can process undiluted animal, and eventually human, blood. If you ever become known to the Sabbath, they will be after you because of your connection to me. And the other Young Bloods here may be a bit jealous."

"Why would that be, Sir?"

At this he smiled, revealing very sharp canines that were just barely distinguishable as fangs in their satiated state. "I can throw away my title and run from my crown, but I am still royalty. As my blood is yours now, so are you."

"Are you telling me to watch my back?"

"I don't know brat. Is the ninth circle of Hell frozen over?" Eren had no idea how to respond to that. "…Remind me to lend you my copy of Dante's Inferno before I ask you that again." He disappeared into his room, leaving Eren standing rather awkwardly in the hallway without knowing what to do. A few seconds passed before Levi's hand grabbed him by the front of what remained of his shirt. "Don't stand there gawking, dumb ass! Get in here!" He was hauled across the room obsurdly clean room-likely the source of the bleach smell that had filled the house when last he'd been there-and thrown onto the bed. "Drink!" The other's wrist was thrust into his face, blue veins standing out in almost sickening contrast to the surrounding greyish-white skin.

"Wha-?" before he could even finish his question the other had grabbed him by the hair, yanked his head back and impaled his wrist on the exposed fangs. "You will obey orders, or else swiftly find yourself neck deep in very unpleasant things. I don't give second chances, you little shit! Now DRINK!" Eren didn't need to be told twice now that the taste of blood was in his mouth. He'd tasted it before-bitter and salty as it was forced down his throat-but this was entirely different. What would formerly have been disgusting and cringe-worthy now put him in Heaven. Thick. Rich. Warm. Home made cookies, fresh baked bread, fine chocolate, none of it compared to what he was tasting.

"Enough," the voice was edged in pain as he tried to gently extricate his wrist from the grip of the New Blood with no intention of letting go. "I SAID ENOUGH!" Tearing free, not caring for the moment that blood went flying everywhere, he pinned the younger down with a feral snarl; Eren mewled pitifully in fear as just how strong the other was-how much of a yawning gap existed between himself and his sire-was impressed upon him. He lay perfectly still, breathing hard and baring his neck to the other's fangs in a gesture of submittance. The elder hung over him for a while longer, golden eyes filled with predatory rage. Then, slowly, he drew back. "When I tell you to stop," he snarled, "you stop. I don't give a damn if you're not finished."

"I-I'm sorry!"

"I bet you are; never doubt a moment that I won't hesitate to kill you. As you are my creation, you are also mine to destroy."

"I-I won't forget Sir."

"We're finished then, for now." Eyes reverting back to grey, Levi slithered off him and crossed to a wardrobe; he removed a white outfit and tossed it at him. "Go clean up. You'll wear this around the house; all new bloods do along with the symbol of who to report their misdeeds to."

"Yes sir."

"You'll stay with me until you're able to revert your eyes and nails to normal."

"Yes Sir," Eren made to walk out in search of the shower, but just as he reached the door he was called back.

"Eren."

"Yes sir?"

"I have every intention of treating you well, spoiling you even, should you cooperate. But step one foot out of line, and you will suffer. This is your only warning."

"Yes Sir." Eren was allowed to leave for the shower then, begging to regret his plea to the Vampire to save his life that night.


	3. Coven

**I know I was supposed to keep updating Earning Wings (my Levi X Reader fic) but I really wanted to write this one before I forgot my idea so…I promise I'm still continuing to work on the other one and will update this as soon as my school and marching band schedules permit. So busy .**

**I know that I'm doing a pretty bad job of keeping this in character.. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I love hearing from my readers. :3**

"Everyone else has heard about the fresh meat, right?"

The klatch in the rec-room-all new bloods, all dressed in white-looked up at the burly blonde as he entered.

"Yes Reiner, we're well aware." One of the girls drawled.

"Oh, what happened Ymir? Did someone jam a silver stick up your ass?"

"No, but a massive migraine headache just walked through the door."

"What was that?" it fell to the lanky black-haired boy beside him to leap quickly to his feet and restrain the other with a calming hand on his shoulder and a soft warning of

"Control yourself."

"I don't know why you're all so damn excited about this." The ashe blonde lounging in the corner grumbled, his resin colored eyes filled with nothing but marked disinterest. "That short bastard will kill him for some stupid screw up long before any of us get to meet 'Dragon Boy'. I say big whoop."

"Don't be such a kill joy," the black haired vampire beside him, his pale face spattered with freckles, chided playfully, getting up to leave; the other grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down onto his lap. "Ah! Jean!"

"Ugh! Get a room!"

"Shut up, Connie!"

"I've seen him." Krista, a petite and strikingly beautiful blonde, piped up suddenly out of no where, making the others all fall silent and stare at her a moment.

"Seen…who?"

"Dragon Boy. I saw him practically being beating over the head with a feather duster the other day, Heichou yelling about how he 'couldn't clean his own damn mess for shit'. He's actually rather handsome, and stands a good head and shoulders above his sire. He's like a puppy with giant paws that he doesn't know how to use; he breaks things easily, and that seems to upset Levi though all he does is have him clean more which kind of makes it worse. It's adorable!"

"Adorable is the last thing I would think of for the practical spawn of that psychotic-!"

"Shh! Someone's coming!" They fell silent, staring intently at the door with no one moving. It was kicked open, momentarily revealing the touchy-about-being-small-of-stature raven, who unceremoniously stiff armed a tall brunet into the room before slamming it shut.

"Sink or swim, brat!" Could be heard as footsteps continued down the hall. The new blood, only a few days old at that point and still with noticeable flecks of red in his teal eyes, pushed himself slowly up onto all fours looking as if he'd just been left high and dry on an abandoned island, the little dragon charm around his throat jingling softly as it twisted and shook. They gathered group exchanged glances, frowning slightly. Both Erwin and Hanji had waited at least a month before introducing each of them to the others in turn, and they'd never left them neck deep and undefended in case any attempts to kill each other were made. Levi, how ever, had thrown his childe headlong into a pit of poisonous serpents and calmly walked away.

"Kristas right, he's kinda cute." Ymir said after a moment. "If you're into men, that is."

"So this is Dragon Boy?" Reiner advanced on him, a bit too fast for the new blood's liking; he hissed and lashed out with his claws, almost flaying off his face. "Woah, calm down man! We're all friends here!"

"Don't go running up to him you idiot!"

"I'm not coming up to him with my fangs out or anything. He isn't stupid, at least I'm assuming that he's not, so I shouldn't look like a predator!"

"The spineless bastard doesn't know what to do now that short ass isn't here for him to hide behind."

"Don't be cruel," Marco admonished, sliding his hand into Jean's as he flashed a look of annoyance at him. "We were all in this same boat at one time, Jean, and he's going to be put through more of a hell than any of us. He'll need all the help, all the support, that he can get if he's going to stand a chance at surviving a century of Levi."

"Whatever, Bott."

"We're all members of the same coven, all family. We're stuck with each other for the rest of our eternal unlives; we may as well get used to it right?"

"I said whatever!"

"Wow, someone's on their man period today."

"Shut up Christa!"

"No one tells my girl to shut up without me getting involved."

"Reiner, she isn't your girl! She's my girl!"

"Ymir, please."

"Don't get involved with this, Reiner." Bertold warned. Too late; the two were already going at it. Sighing heavily, he picked up a book and buried his face in it. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother."

All attention seemed to have effectively been diverted from Eren, who still crouched frozen on the floor until "you have a name, I would assume?"

Looking up, he found a young woman with blonde hair pulled back into a pony tail and cold blue eyes staring down at him. "Uh, yeah." He said, taking the hand that was offered to him in greeting only to have her pull him to his feet. "Eren Yeager."

"Annie Leonhart." For a moment she stared at him searchingly for a moment. "If you know what's good for you, Young Blood, you'll avoid the others in favor of sticking with Reiner Bertold and I."

"W-Why is that?"

"Because the rest of them are fools. Strigoi sheep, really. You'll run with us, and only us, if you want to know what it _really_ means to be a Vampire."

"I-?"

"_Yeager!"_He knew that voice too well, and the searing anger in it made him flinch with a small squeak. Turning slowly, he was met with the sight of Levi standing in the doorway of the room with his eyes again glowing savage gold. But they were locked on Annie instead of him; she stepped back with a provoking grin as Eren was grabbed by the wrist and dragged through the halls back to the same room where he'd been staying for the past few days.

"D-Did I do something wrong, sir?"

"No, but you were very near about to!" He growled, turning away and leaning his weight against the wall, nails-half transitioned into claws-scratching shallow furrows in the stone wall as he visibly struggled to regain full control of himself. "Let us see how observant you are, shall we? What did you notice that was strange about Braun Leonhart and Fubar?"

"Strange…?" he looked down at himself, brow creasing in thought. "I don't-." then it hit him. The Dragon Charm around his neck. The Lion or Fox that the others had worn. Except for the three in question. "They weren't marked."

"Their origin, and sire, is unknown; Erwin, in his endless stupid…I mean charity, took them in without bothering to question."

"You don't trust them, do you?" Realising his mistake when the other shot him a corrosive glare Eren quickly tacked a "Sir" onto the end.

"No, I don't. And you don't either, am I clear?"

"Crystal, Sir." Something about them made him nervous anyway, if he was being honest. Then again…they all did. He wanted to go home to his apartment. To pain, or draw, or just stare blankly at a clean canvas waiting for inspiration to come. He wanted to see his sister and his best friend. He wanted his life back. To wake up in bed to find Mikasa poking him for being late, and to realize that everything that had happened had only been a dream. But he knew better. "C-Can I ask a favor?"

"I don't know, can you?" was the snarky reply.

"I…have a sister. A best friend. I miss them." Nervously, he sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled his knees up to his chest. "Can I-?"

"No, you may not see them. Your presence alone would put them in mortal danger, and not just from you. Do not ask again."

"…I'm sorry, it was stupid." Eren turned his head away, fighting against the urge to cry even as traitorous tears burned the corners of his eyes.

"Yes, it was. Go to bed, it's almost sunrise." He received no answer as the other curled into a ball beneath the sheets. He closed the door and walked away, but his ears were keen enough to pick up the soft hitching sniffles that had begun to issue from the other side of the door. _Fuck, the little bastard is crying over it! _This thought was followed swiftly by the realization that, unlike in the age when he'd been a human, offing your own family for title and power was now frowned upon severely. He stopped. _Why do I give a shit? Why does it hurt to hear him making that sound. I'm doing him a favor! That wimp who goes around wearing his heart on his sleeve would be utterly destroyed if he killed one of them. But…perhaps there's some way that I could be arranged where he could speak to them, at least. For a few minutes. If I can find the damn thing._ Continuing down the hallway at an even quicker pace he grumbled "I swear, going soft in my old age."

Eren was awoken quite rudely at around 5 the next evening by being roughly kicked out of bed and onto the floor, his cellphone-screen shattered and case encrusted with blood and dirt but by some miracle still functional-was dropped directly onto his head.

"Call your damn sister and your stupid friend, Yeager. You have until I get out of the shower to say your goodbyes and move the hell on." Sure that was to be the only time he'd ever see his Sire covered from head to toe in mud, Eren took pains to commit the sight to memory. As the mutinously grumbling Raven stalked into the bathroom, the other sat on the bed with his knees tucked beneath him, staring at the dark screen. He turned it on after a moment, and was barely able to make out a distorted message proclaiming **40 missed calls. **Again the question of just how long he'd been gone flashed through his mind as he went to the menu and entered in the code for his voicemails, deleting each after he heard it.

"Eren," Mikasa's voice, "where are you? You should have been here an hour ago; Armin and I are starting to get worried."

"Eren, I'm knocking at the door. Let me in."

"Eren Yeager, if you don't have this door open in thirty seconds I'm using the spare key and if I find you sleeping so help me!"

"Eren," Armin's voice this time, "Mikasa went to your apartment and said you weren't there. We're worried about you, man. This isn't funny."

"Eren, please." Now her voice sounded worried. "Call me; I'm not angry at you for ditching us, I just want to know you're alright. If you don't call by morning, Armin and I are calling the police."

"Eren," Mikasa's voice was broken up and dry, as if she were speaking between sobs. "We called the police the other day to look for you. They found blood…in an alley…they say you're dead but…Please, if you're alive call me. I…I can't lose my family again."

Eren jumped as the phone in his hand began to vibrate, yet another call from his sister. Eren made no move to answer it, holding it as it vibrated and watching as the number of missed calls rose to 41. How could he contact them, knowing that they would demand to see him and by doing so would put themselves in grave danger? _I'm sorry, Mikasa. I can't. _He crushed the phone, watching the shards of plastic and metal and glass fall onto the white bed sheets. It was better that they thought him dead; he was a Vampire now, not Human, and it was time he started acting like one. Cooperate and be treated well? He was tired of being punished for stupid screw ups caused by being too damn stubborn. Tired of making life harder on himself than it already was. _This is my life, now. Levi and the others…they're my family. _Eren sighed, pulling the sheets back over his head. _Why is it so hard to forget?_


	4. Blood is Thicker Than Water

'I'm so sorry.' She'd heard the phrase so many times in that day alone that Mikasa now thought she'd loose her mind completely if she heard it said one more time. They'd called the police two days after he'd gone missing. Two days later, they'd found it; no body, just blood. More blood, they said, than any person could lose and survive. She stood at the window of his apartment, staring out and the grey sky and rain swept landing with her cellphone against her ear. Ten minutes before it had refused to allow her to leave another voicemail. Five minutes ago it had allowed her to leave another message, which meant that someone-not necessarily Eren but someone-had erased them. Now she was met with a message that made her go cold.

"We're sorry, but the number you're trying to reach is no longer in service. Please hang up and try again."

"Mikasa," she jumped, dropping her cellphone in surprise. He was standing in the doorway in a pressed black suit, staring at her sadly. "You didn't come to the funeral."

"A funeral for an empty coffin? As far as I'm concerned, my brother isn't dead until I have his body in my arms! Then I will go to his funeral."

"What are you doing here?"

"…Looking for answers." She replied after a moment. "He was so nervous about that fortune teller's reading…and now I'm starting to believe it too. Eren wouldn't have gone out alone at night without a good reason to. Superstitions aside, Sina is extremely dangerous at night! This city is the murder capital of the world!"

"He's gone, Mika." Armin's arms wound around her in a comforting embrace. "He lost at least three pints of blood; no one can survive that."

"Someone emptied his voicemail, Armin."

"You think they have his phone?" she nodded. "You want to go looking?" again, she nodded. "You realize that, not only is vigilantism against the law, it could also lead us straight into the lair of a cold blooded serial killer."

"I'm aware. But…something tells me there may be more to that Psychic after all. I think we should go back."

"Hold on, before we go delving into Werewolf maulings and Alien abductions, let's ask the police to tap his-."

"No use, the number has been disconnected."

"Then let's ask around with a photo, put up missing persons posters, see if anyone has heard or seen anything."

"And then we go to the psychic."

"If nothing comes out of a rational search, yes." Armin agreed. "We'll start at the scene of the crime and work our way out from there." Like any good murder story. They could only hope that they wouldn't get caught up in the spree.

Not having bothered to even attempt going back to bed with how close to sunset it had been, Eren had managed to scrounge up a piece of paper and a black crayon and now sat curled up in a chair in the rec room, alone for the moment, idly doodling; dark scenes conjured up by his despair darkened mind. A bat with wings spread perched atop a fountain of blood; a pale hand holding a goblet of wine reflecting a single golden eye, a black dragon with blood spilling from its maw, curled tightly around a castle of bones.

"You're really good at that, Eren." Looking up with a start of surprise, he was met with a freckled face and a friendly smile. "Anyone ever told you?"

"Oh, uh, hey Marco. And…yeah, they have. I am, was, a painter by trade." Eren sighed. "It started out as a childhood hobby of mine; something for me to do as a hyperactive three year old. My father…he wasn't around enough to have an opinion on it, but my mother was unbelievably supportive. Enrolled me in lessons. When she died…" he looked away. "Why the hell am I even babbling about this? I barely know you, and I doubt you care."

"Believe me when I tell you that I'm a listener by trade." Marco assured him. "Mind if I sit?"

"Oh, no of course not! Go ahead."

"Listen, Eren," the older newblood said quietly, sitting down beside him. "We're all in the same boat here; siblings, in a way. A family. We'll be with each other for the remainder of our very long lives, so we should form bonds of trust instead of hatred. As such, I'd like to apologize to you on Jean's behalf."

"And why would you do that?" he asked. "If Horse Face wants to act like a dick then let him. If he doesn't want to apologize, then it shouldn't be your problem."

"Jean Kirstein will always be my problem, just as I shall always be his." Was the good natured reply. "We have known each other since we were young children. When we were twelve it was discovered that I was terminally ill with only six years left to live. Jean was devastated, but he wouldn't give up on me. By the time we were 18 I had 6 months left if I was lucky and he'd dropped out of school in a desperate search for a cure. In that search, he crossed some of the wrong people. If Erwin hadn't…Jean begged him to save me when he woke up, and so here we are."

"He's your problem because he's your best friend?"

"He's my problem because he's my intended." Eren had no idea what that meant, and wasn't given the chance to before Marco changed the subject. "You said you were an artist? Who did you do it for? Who was your inspiration?"

"…My sister. Mikasa."

"Have you gone to see her?"

He shook his head. "No, I…it's too dangerous. Levi says that the Sabbath would be after me if they ever found out who he really is and that I'm connected to him, and if I go near them now they'll be pulled into those cross hairs too. Besides…how can I explain to them what I've become? It's been a long time since the average person off the street has believed in Vampires."

"I can't begin to comprehend what it must be like. I wasn't alone in my new life, the way that you are; it must be hard. But…the others are so afraid of Heichou because of what he's said to have done all those centuries ago but…I like to think I'm a pretty good judge of character. He'll take good care of you."

"He said the same, so long as I cooperate."

"And you plan to?"

"I'm not stupid."

Silence. "There's not much in the way of supplies here. Why don't we ask Heichou and Erwin if we can run to one of the art stores in the city?"

Eren stared at the other for a moment before nodding. "Sure, why not."

"I'll meet you out front when you're ready." They left the rec room together, Marco going up the stairs and Eren returning to his room. He found Levi sitting on the couch, face buried in a very old book.

"Uh…Sir?" he raised his grey eyes from the small text to glare at him in an unspoken question. "Marco and I were…I was wondering if…we wanted to go into the city to buy art supplies."

"Art supplies, brat?" he repeated. "Are you telling me that you're an artist?" Eren hesitated for a moment, than held out the paper containing his doodles. Putting the book aside, Levi took it and examined the page for a moment. "Well, you're no Van Gogh but you're not bad either. You'll have to paint me something." He set the notebook down as well and beckoned him over with one finger. "Come here, brat." Eren went and sat beside him. "Open."

"Sir?"

"Your mouth, Yeager!" Though confused, he did as he was told. Levi's eyes narrowed. "Your fangs are still too long to allow you out in public," he held out his wrist. "Drink first." He'd been getting better with the whole drinking blood thing, and with stopping when he was told; his Sire was allowing him to feed more often, and as a result a thin scar was beginning to develop on his wrist. Levi watched him, looking bored, as he reopened the tiny silver slash marks. "Keep in mind that I'm only letting you go because I know how this is going to go down; Bott will ask Erwin who will allow it, Hanji will over hear, freak out, run around the house like the mad woman we all know she is and rope all of the other new bloods into going out for a night on the town. Buy everything you need, some of what you want and be fully prepared to be dragged to some seedy nightclub. Try to bond with your Coven mates, and make sure you don't lose this." A handkerchief was tossed at his face as he pulled back; the other got up and went over to the nearby desk, opening a drawer and pulling something out. "Here." Something silver and plastic that he quickly realized was a credit card was forced into his hand. _A night to myself; likely the last for the next century or so. I'll have to be sure to enjoy it while I can._

"You're giving me…your credit card?" _You have a credit card?_

"I'm a Vampire, not an old man, I'm aware of the new trends in technology shitty brat!" He snapped back, bad mood returning even stronger than ever. "And yes, I am _lending _you my credit card. Did you expect to pull assets out of your ass?"

"I expected to stop by the bank and withdrawl some money from my checking account."

"You've been declared dead by now; the contents of said account went to your next of kin."

"Right." Eren's face fell.

"Listen, Yeager, for one night I want you to forget about your old life and just be the stupid teenager screwing around with friends that you and I both know you are."

"Sir, I'm 21."

"So they keep telling me." Eren could have sworn that he grinned, but the look was gone from Levi's face so quickly that it was impossible to be sure. "But until I see proof of it through mature behavior, I will never believe such claims. Now, get your ass outside to meet up with Bott and the other young bloods."

"Yes Sir."

"Enjoy yourself, Eren."

"I'll try, Sir." But his tone was half-hearted as he turned and walked out. Once he was gone, Levi shook his head and sighed.

_He worries me to no end. I don't even know why I bother anymore._


	5. Running to protect you

**I know that I'm taking a huge amount of time to update and I'm really sorry about my frequent hiatuses; I write my own original works on top of fanfictions like these and I hope to one day have some of my work published. In the meantime my own original works (just one at the moment) are posted on . If you're interested in reading any of them, search Sable Grey under the author's tab; the story you're looking for is called Darke. **

"Did you see this man come in here three days ago?"

"No, sorry."

"Did you see him around here three days ago?"

"I've seen him before, yeah, but not three days ago."

"Have you seen him about three days ago? His name is Eren?"

"Eren? I wish I could help; if I'd seen him before I'd remember it. I never forget a pretty face, and he is hot._"_

Hours had gone on this way between the two of them. They'd ask people off the streets if they'd seen anything, and they'd receive answers in the negative everytime. They'd ask the owners or clerks of stores and bars and other establishes that their friend and brother frequented, only to be turned away. Finally, in an attempt to cover more ground, Armin and Mikasa had split up; Mikasa heading East and Armin going west, finally ending up at Eren's favorite art store. Wow, the place brought back memories; the three had been going there to buy supplies since they were eight years old along with Eren's mother, before she had died. Walking through the doors into the cool air conditioning, the familiar smell of paint and crayon wax hit him like an onrush of memories. Eren dragging them both excitedly through the halls, chattering at a thousand miles an hour about different art tools and how they were used. Mikasa accidently tipping over a display of paints. The trio getting into a crayon throwing fight when they were twelve, coming out of it laughing and smeared in chips of wax. He approached the first teller he saw; a new employee from the look of her, blonde hair pulled back into a pony tail and enormous glob of pink gum in her mouth.

"Can I help you?" she asked him.

"Yeah, you can actually." He held out the picture. "Could you tell me if you've ever seen him here?"

She took the picture and looked at it for a moment, then nodded. "Aisle five."

_Excuse me?_ Shock was probably written all over his face. "Um…you don't understand…he was…murdered. Three days ago."

"Well, then there's a walking corpse perusing the acrylic paint aisle with a crazy so-called fortune-teller and a pair of gay twenty-somethings." She blew an enormous bubble and allowed it to pop before pointing him in the right direction and again saying "Aisle five."

_Could it be possible that he's still alive after all? But what the hell reason would he have for putting the two of us through this; Eren would never pull something so sick. Was he kidnapped? Has he developed amnesia from being hit over the head? Is he being threatened by a killer?_ Armin hurried to the indicated aisle and rounded the corner; he was confronted immediately with the sight of a man he thought he'd never see again. "_Eren Yeager!"_

Eren went stiff, turning slowly to face him with a look in his eyes that clearly read 'shit'. For a long moment, both stared at each other; Eren opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He opened and closed it a few more times before finding his voice. "I-I don't-."

"There you are Rivaille!" A tall ash blond yowled, interrupting the other as he popped out from behind the aisle. "I've been looking for you for the past five minutes, you bat-shit artist! The plane back to Transylvania is leaving in an hour! Your father will be pissed if we don't get to the airport on time and…" pretending to have noticed Armin standing there for the first time he cut himself off with "someone you know, shit head?"

"…No," he spoke in an accent so thick it was immediately obvious as false, looking away almost guiltily. "I have never seen this man in my life, though he seems to have mistaken me for someone else."

"Whatever," the blonde one growled, turning and beginning to drag him away. "Let's go; I'm not going to be beaten over the head with a feather duster just because you couldn't decide between smoke grey and slate grey!" Armin was helpless to react as his friend was dragged away behind another aisle and out of sight.

"What the hell was that?" Eren demanded of the other once they were out of earshot; Jean just gave him a cold stare.

"You're really fucking stupid, aren't you." He finally growled. "I may be a new blood, but I'm not an ignorant child. I'm well aware of the way that this world works; a year under Erwin's wing has taught me a lot. The Sabbath and the Strigoi are at war, and that's not the sort of thing Human Kind should be brought into; you're a prime target, Eren, and as such anyone who is close to you will become a target as well. I'm sure your Sire has told you this already."

"He has." Eren admitted with a sigh. "But why the Hell did you call me Rivaille?"

"Because that's his assumed last name and I had to think on the fucking fly; it was evident that human knew who you were." Jean snapped back. "Listen, I didn't do this for you. I did it to protect a human from getting involved in shit that they shouldn't be. Don't misconstrue."

"Jean, you don't need to be so snappish about it." Marco laughed as he turned away from a wall of candles. "Of course, we should probably get out of here before that kid decides your shaky façade wasn't believable enough and comes charging after his friend; it's clear that Levi was wrong about you having been declared dead, as they're still looking for you. I'll go and tell Hanji and the others that it's time to leave; you should take him outside to wait."

"Right," grabbing Eren by the wrist yet again, Jean dragged him quickly through the store and out into the light of the setting sun. "Mind telling me who the shitting hell that was?"

"My best friend, Armin Arlert. He and I grew up together; he's likely looking for me on his own time, along with my sister Mikasa, without the help of the police."

"And you're sure about that?"

Eren nodded. "Right before we left, Levi said something about my funeral having been held about six hours ago."

Jean laughed bitterly. "They must really care about you, then. To have not given up even on you even when everyone else considers you dead."

"I does mean that they care, and it's touching but…" Eren shuddered. "When Levi finds out about this, I'm going to be put under lock down for the next century Jean!"

"Erwin won't let him do that, don't worry."

"But-!"

"Levi may be your sire, and he may have at one point been the King of the fucking Sabbath Vampires but now a days he differs to Erwin as the leader of the Coven. Now," the others were in sight now, rounding the corner of the building to meet them, "we should get going; I may not like you, Yeager, but that by no means translates to a desire to see you pass out on the sidewalk. You look a bit pale."

"I'm a Vampire! Of course I'm pale!"

"Paler than normal, is what he means." Marco piped up helpfully as he trotted up to them ahead of the others. "Hanji is admittedly disappointed that our night has been screwed, but she agrees it's probably the best idea to head back early."

"Just lash me to a wooden pole and light me on fire. Stake me now. I'm screwed." Eren moaned, putting his face in his hands. "Levi is going to find some way to peg this as being my fault; I know he is!"

"I'm sure it'll turn out alright," the other tried to sooth, but there was something in his voice which revealed the truth of the matter that he didn't really believe what he was saying. The journey back to the coven house was like a death march to the brunett, who hung his head and trudged along after his companions. The hallway seemed to stretch on forever, and if his heart had still been beating Eren was sure that he'd have likely gone into cardiac arrest by the time he finally reached the door. Pushing it open, he found Levi sitting at the piano with his eyes closed and his fingers curled gracefully over the marble keys. Just as the thought of sneaking away crossed his mind, he asked

"Something the matter, brat?"

_Shit. No choice now._ He swallowed hard. "Sir, I-I…"

"You smell like a human," Levi's grey eyes were keen, but not sharp as he looked over at him. "Something happened, didn't it?"

"…We went to the art shop that I used to frequent…I didn't realize that Armin and Mikasa would still be looking for me. Never thought for a moment he'd come into the store and find me in one of the aisles. If Jean hadn't acted as fast as he did…Armin isn't stupid. I doubt he believed the story he was told." Eren looked away, shifting nervously. "I don't know what to do."

"There's nothing we can do, Yeager. Your friend and sister have their own minds; you can't control their actions any more than I can." The elder vampire told him with a heavy sigh. "Things should still be ok for the moment. But if it happens again we'll have no choice but to consider them exposed."

"What would that mean?"

His fangs flashed as he snickered. "Nothing anywhere near close to what you seem to be thinking. It would mean that we would take them under our protection, though, unfortunately, that would be no means assuredly keep them safe."

"I'm sorry." His eyes fell to his feet.

"Don't apologize, idiot." If the situation had been different Levi would likely have cuffed him upside the head for acting like an imbecile, but he seemed unwilling to get up from his place at the grand piano; his face was screwed up into an expression as if he were trying to remember something. A long moment passed before he asked "Do you still want that paint?"

_…Paint?_ Eren blinked in surprise. "I…it's likely that they'll still be looking around there for a good while Sir."

"I never said that you'd be going," he told him sharply. "Well?"

"…Yes, Sir."

"Go find paper and a pen, make a list of what you want. I'll get around to it at some point tomorrow. When you're finished with that, get some sleep. You look like you could use it." Levi then turned his back on him, pressing down two keys and producing a sweet chord from the piano; he frowned. "Damn it, that's not right. Why can't I remember?"

Seeing his chance to slip away before the other could change his mind and decide to punish him anyway, Eren all but ran out of the room into the nearby bed room and burrowed under the covers. He hadn't felt tired just moments before, but the minute his head hit the pillows he was unconscious.

"You mean to tell me that you saw him at the art store?"

Armin nodded. "Yes, I'm sure it was Eren dispite the stupid story he tried to pass off to me. He was being held hostage or something; some strange teenager came out of nowhere when I started talking to him and dragged your brother away."

"So he's being held hostage? Has stockholmes, or else is being threatened?"

"It looks like it." He could see that Mikasa was bristling, and knew full well that nothing good would come of the fact. "What are you thinking."

"That we're going to handle this ourselves; you said the fortune teller was mentioned?"

"Yeah, why?"

"He's probably being held captive there! We're going to go looking first thing tomorrow morning!"


	6. Dragon's Maw

The rain was sheeting down outside when they pulled up to the little house for the second time in a span of two weeks. The gravel crunched beneath the tires of the car as it rolled to a stop and then beneath their feet as the pair advanced up the lane towards the front door to grab the brass knocker. Their knock sounded hollow as it disappeared into the tiny building. It was quite a long while before they received an answer

The knock on the door that disturbed their quiet conversation caused the two to immediately look at each other.

"It's them," the raven concluded without missing a beat.

"How can you be so sure about that, Levi?" Erwin's voice was measured as he looked at the other with calm brown eyes.

"Shitty Glasses doesn't have any appointments today," a moment of silence. "Better safe then sorry, as they say."

Erwin nodded. "Very true. What should be done?"

"If we turn them away, they'll just come back," he pointed out. "Let them in and distract them. I'll hide Eren and then be up as well."

After what seemed like an eternity, footsteps approached the door and the entrance swung open. To the surprise of the pair it was not the Fortune Teller who answered but a man.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that, you caught me sleeping," he told them with a kind smile. "Did Hanji forget that she made an appointment today?"

"Yes, she did." Mikasa answered quickly.

"One would think that the ability to foresee the future would prevent this sort of thing from happening," he sighed, stepping aside to let them in. "She'll be back eventually; one can never quite be sure with her. Come in, we can at least spare some tea for your time. And perhaps we'll be able to go about the business of rescheduling?"

"That would be great, thank you." Anything to get them inside. The house looked the same as usual-cluttered-but the strong smell of bleach from before was gone. They were lead into the kitchen, and a door hanging slightly ajar-leading to what they assumed to be the basement-caught their eye.

"Rivaille has normally started on his third pot by this point in the day," he muttered, looking at the cold stove top in mild confusion that the tea pot was absent. The pair stiffened slightly at the name.

_The card 13 in the red deck looked different than it had in the other one but Eren still looked terrified to find the number again glaring out at him as he stared at the dragon-embossed shield. The fortune teller looked equally confused. "So Rivaille has a hand in this."'_

"I slept in today, remember? Between that and our little talk that their arrival interrupted, I haven't had the time to make any yet." The basement door swung fully open and a second man stepped out into the kitchen. He was noteably shorter than the other by a good amount and could have been any age at all; 20, 30, 40, it was impossible to tell just by looking at him. His eyes could have been either grey or blue and were underlined by dark bruise-like shadows as if he hadn't slept in years and his skin was pale to the point of being bloodless, like a corpse. His black hair was cut short and shaved up the sides to a double length; flecks of white plaster dust had fallen into it and onto his shoulders like snow, and he ran a hand through his hair to brush it away. In a ghoulish way, he was handsome but there was something about him that was…off. Creepy, even. "I'll make some now." So this was the mysterious Rivaille. She watched him with unfriendly eyes as he moved across the room and began to tinker with the stove. "Just like shitty glasses to forget she scheduled an appointment for today."

"With everything that's been going on lately, can you blame her Levi?"

This earned the blonde a roll of the other's eyes. "Erwin, you're too damn understanding. Haji forgets something, oh a lot is going on. A car almost flattens you on the street, oh I wasn't paying attention. I almost lop your head off back when we first met, oh I was just having a bed day."

"That is what love does for you Levi."

"Makes you soft in the head and leaves you stuck with a crazy road-side psychic?" at this, he snorted. "Love is useless." For a moment something that looked like sadness passed over his impassive face. "It's not as if I have to time left to me to fall in love anyway."

"We'll speak of this later," there was almost commanding quality to his voices now as he addressed the raven.

"Yes," the other said with a nod, "we will." He looked over his shoulder at the stove as the pot began to squeal. "Teas ready."

"Oh, uh, I have to use the bathroom!" Mikasa piped up, ceasing her chance to do some poking around. The two men looked at her for a moment as if not quite sure how to respond. Finally, Erwin sighed.

"Downstairs; third door on the left."

"Thank you," she opened the door and hurried down the stairs before any of them could get it in their heads to stop her. There were no windows in the corridor she ended up in, lined with doors on either side and lit only by a few dim lights placed on the ceiling at intervals. She proceeded down the hall slowly, careful not to make a sound as she peered into room after room. Bed rooms occupied by sleeping forms. A rec room filled with videogame systems, a pool table, old arcade games and a bar stocked with bottles containing not alchohol but something dark in color and much thicker. Further down was a large room with a raised platform in the center on top of which sat a beautiful grand piano, but what caught her eye was the artist's canvas sitting upright on an easel baring a half-done rough sketch of a winged figure on a throne; it looked as if someone had been interrupted in the middle of preparing the pain, as a swatch of color combinations lay forgotten on the wooden floor. _He's definitely here, but for what reason? Is this some sort of cult?_ Continuing to the end of the hallway, she pushed open the very last door; another large room yet again with no windows, though curtains hanging on the white washed walls appeared meant to suggest their presence. The floor here was white carpet, the wood furniture darkly stained and polished to an impressive luster. The bed was enormous, gothic in style and made entirely of wrought iron. The matress was likely filled with feathers instead of the more modern foam, and the luxurious sheets and comforter were pulled over it neatly. Everything in the space was spotless, so the plaster dust scattered on the floor and the large wardrobe standing slightly askew against the far wall drew her attention immediately. As Mikasa advanced on the piece of furniture she could clearly see the ragged edges of a large hole which had been gouged into the drywall by what looked like claws; as she attempted to budge the cabinet she heard a soft intake of breath and the shuffling of something withdrawing further into the hole. Just as the enormous wardrobe began to move across the floor, a cold hand came down on her wrist in a vice grip; the fingers withdrew almost instantly as they came into contact with the silver bracelet around her wrist.

"What the hell are you doing poking around in my bedroom?" Levi growled, his grey eyes narrowed as an aura of extreme unfriendliness rolled off of him. Though he was attempting to hide the hand, she could see the skin that had touched the metal was blistering as if from severe chemical burns. "Get back upstairs now!" She was grateful for the small mercy of the fact that he didn't follow her as she ran back down the hall. Muttering mutinously to himself and favoring his wounded hand, Levi used his shoulder to push the wardrobe back to allow the brunet to tumble out of the hole onto the carpet. Eren was covered in so much dust he looked like a ghost but he didn't seem to care; getting onto his knees, he immediately grabbed the other's wrist to inspect the injury.

"You're hurt!" He cried, looking almost stricken.

"Silver," he replied, feeling as if he should pull away but not really wanting to. "A sacred metal; blessed or not, it burns us. The wounds will heal in a few-." Levi cut off abruptly when the kneeling newblood enveloped his wounded fingers in the warm moist cavern of his mouth and began to gently suck on them. The pain flared sharply, then began to fade into a strange itching sensation as the others wet tongue curled around them and all the while he just stood there not knowing how to react even as thoughts of what else he could make the pretty brunet suck flashed through his head. When Eren finally saw fit to release him, Levi stared at his drool-slicked fingers in shock. The wounds that should have taken weeks to close were gone. Everything-the speed at which the bite marks from Eren's fangs had scared over, the lack of manifesting powers-all made sense at that moment. Eren had had his skill all along. "You're a Sevant." This statement was met with a blank green gaze. "A healer; your blood, saliva, even tears hold healing properties." A pause. "But how did you know to do that?" at this the other turned red and refused to say another word. "I suppose it doesn't really matter; we know what we need to." Pulling him to his feet, he made his way to the door to leave. "Do as you wish for the rest of the day, brat. I need to speak to Erwin on the matter of your troublesome friends."


	7. Curse

They'd all but run out of the house and peeled out of park the moment Mikasa had come up from the basement. It was all so weird; the bottles behind the bar filled with what looked like blood, the soundless way he'd crept up behind her, the way his skin had melted like wax where the silver touched it. Armin had tried to speak to her the entire way back to the apartment without success, but had given up after receiving no answer.

"Something is seriously wrong here!" She finally said as they got out of the car. "I don't believe in all the ghosts and monsters shit, but I seriously think Eren must have been kidnapped by Vampires!"

"What, exactly, makes you think that?"

"You saw how pale he was!"

"An aversion to going outside makes you an Agoraphobe, not a Vampire."

"The bottles behind the bar in the rec room were filled with blood!"

"Or rum. Or red wine."

"When he touched the silver bracelet on my wrist his hand looked a melting snowman!"

That one left the highly rational blonde without an answer. "Ok. So if you are right and they are Vampires what, exactly, do you expect us to do?"

"You're the Human super computer!" She snapped back. "How does a person go about killing a Vampire?"

"We have no choice now; it's undeniable they've been exposed." Erwin sighed from his position standing behind his desk. "It may well be true that they don't know you're still alive or that you've chosen an heir, it may be true that they do. Either way, as you yourself have said, better safe then sorry."

"Yeah, and what exactly are we going to do to be 'safe'?"

"Levi," the brown eyes fell on him in a firm gaze. "You won't be doing anything. Our intrest is in preserving your life for as long as possible. Many of the Sabbath still hold a great deal of respect for you; if we wait for a strategic point in the battle and show them that you're alive, they'll turn on Pisces."

"My wound isn't bad enough to keep me from fighting, Smith!" He snarled. "I'm fine!"

"You do a good job of passing that off as true, but I've known you long enough to tell that despite your façade you're in debilitating pain." The steely glare the other was giving him did nothing to sway his decision. "You know that I only bought you time, and not much of it. Even magic as powerful as what I used that night won't keep a cursed wound like yours closed forever."

"So you say."

"It's opening again; I've noticed the passed few months that bloody bandages have been ending up in the trash, along with the occasional ruined shirt."

"What the fuck are you doing sorting through garbage!"

"That curse was devised for the sole purpose of taking your life, and nothing can stop it until it does." Erwin told him grimly. "You've grown too weak to hunt for yourself, let alone a Sabbath with any hope of winning. You're running out of time."

"Is there a point to this badgering, eyebrows?"

"You'll die before the year is out; have you told him?"

"…" Eren. He hadn't gotten around to it before, and now having seen his reaction of near panic to a minor wound he didn't really want to. "No. I haven't."

"You need to."

"I know." Silence for a while. "What will become of him when I die?"

"We'll care for him in your stead, don't worry. Teach him what he needs to know to rule."

"A brainless brat for a King?" he let out a humorless laugh. "I wonder, can he do better than I did?" Without waiting to be dismissed by Erwin he left the office and walked down the hallway to the piano room. There he found Eren standing once again before the canvas, painting and humming to himself happily but slightly off tune. His hips swayed sassily from side to side as he did so, immediately drawing the other's eyes and making his mouth go dry. He still wasn't sure what it was that he felt for Eren, but he knew that he'd been feeling it since he had first seen him; part of the real reason why he had gone against his better judgement and turned him. Part of the reason he'd been so hard on him in the beginning. Just as he was about to sneak away a powerful twinge of pain as the sealed wound tore itself slightly wider and more blood drenched the bandages tightly wound beneath his clothing, making him double over with a hiss of pain and clutch at the door frame to hold himself up.

"Sir, are you alright?"

_No, I'm anything but alright. I'm dying, and my heart aches from more than just this hellish wound. I've no idea what it is that you are doing to me Eren, but I do know one thing; I never want to see those emerald eyes shed tears. _Biting back the pain, he forced himself to straighten up. "I'm fine, brat." He couldn't tell him. Not before he had no choice. "You locked yourself away in here like Hanji does when she's screwing with something stupid; you had me worried. Gotten anywhere?"

Successfully distracted by the change in subject, he happily motioned to the now half-painted work. "I have to finish painting the base coloring, and then I can move on to adding the shadows and highlights."

"Why did you paint me?"

"It's just…I geuss…" again with the blush, "you're on my mind I suppose."

The castle, the throne, even the armor that he wore were entirely accurate and the detail work was incredible. But how had he known any of it. "How-?"

"I asked Erwin about it," he explained quickly, beginning to look a little guilty. "I didn't know how else to find out about it all. And I thought you'd get angry if I asked you; you don't seem to like being reminded of your past. So I went to Erwin; he didn't tell me anything other than the details that I asked for so-!"

"Stop panicking, I'm not mad." The other relaxed so much that he visibly sagged in relief. "Next time you're curious, however, I'd prefer it if you came to me."

"I'm sorry."

He rolled his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop apologizing?"

"I-." A sharp look from Levi swiftly turned the statement into "yes Sir."

"That's better," the thought crossed his mind that he was still much too stiff in his presence most times, though there wasn't really anything he could do to change that. "I think it's about time you fed again."

"I'm fine, Sir." A pause before the brunet added a quiet "you don't look so good."

So it was really beginning to show that much? Just days before he'd appeared fine and proud as ever but now? His cheeks were hollow, skin waxy, eyes bruised. "I've…slipped a bit, I'll admit to that. Though it's somewhat difficult to feed at leisure when I'm dependant on Erwin and Hanji to do my hunting for me."

"Why?" voice laced with concern, Eren took a step towards him. "Are you ill?"

"I…yes. But I'll be fine soon, don't worry." The relief at seeing the worry go out of his eyes was swiftly replaced at annoyance as his face screwed up into a shit eating grin and he mewled

"you aren't contagious, are you?"

"Shitty brat!"

The empty swings of the rain swept playground creaked ominously on their rusted metal chains in a strong wind. The sand beneath the little pebbles strewn across the area rapidly turning into a pit of treacherous mud. The play area and the streets surrounding it were empty, but for a tall thin shadow standing underneath the relative shelter of the slide; Pisces stepped out into the range at her approach and smiled, revealing long fangs.

"My childe, what have you to report? And where are the others?"

"I'd never get out of there without drawing suspicion if I tried to bring those idiots with me," Annie hissed. "I've showed enough control to be trusted outside of their immediate watch."

"All of them trust you? That's quite a feat."

"Rivaille-as he calls himself now-trusts no one. But as for Erwin and his other lieutenant are concerned I'm an angel."

"So it's true, then. The Strigoi leader's sorcery undid my curse?"

"No, it simply sealed it for a time; the wound is opening again, rapidly. Our former Lord has only months to live."

"We'll return, then, to Transylvania. It won't be long before Erwin becomes desperate enough to attack us there."

"I'd advise against that!" Annie countered quickly. "I wasn't finished yet! Even if he dies, his line continues; he's taken an heir!"

The older Vampire let out a snarl of displeasure. "How long?"

"Less than a month; he's barely acclimated to his new life. An easy kill."

"If only getting to him were as easy."

"I know a way to make him come running like a moth to a flame," she told him with an evil grin. "If we strike at his sister, he'll come."


	8. Wings

The lights of the city sparkled on the horizon like chips of amber against the carved black buildings. She stood on top of a hill overlooking it, fey-like in appearance and short in stature, her eyes glowing scarlet and her ginger hair blowing back against her face in a cool wind.

"So this is Sina." She said quietly, tilting her head to one side just slightly and narrowing her eyes as if expecting the image before her to change into something more dramatic. "It's…small. Not the place I would expect him to flee to, though that is, I suppose, what makes it such a great place to hide." The shadows around her shifted and split as three other figures emerged into view.

"We've searched everywhere but here," the blonde one said, coming to a stop a few feet away with a sigh. "Certainly is off the beaten path."

"Quieter that way," another pointed out, sticking a tongue out. "Sounds boring to me."

"Careful Oluo, don't go biting your tongue off again," the black haired third snickered. "And we can't forget that this is the last place Pisces and the other traitors haven't checked either. I'd say this city is about to get noisy, provided that we aren't already too late."

"We aren't!"

"Petra-."

"Our master is too cautious to have been bested by those power-hungry fools! And Erwin is too saavy to have been found!"

"Why the need to hurry then?" this earned Oluo a sharp glare.

"Haven't you three heard the news? We've a Prince." Turning her back on them she flounced down the hill. "Hurry up; it's already been 800 years. Let's not keep our Lord and master waiting any longer than we have to.

Eren had spent a pleasant few hours with his Sire doing a horrible job of attempting to learn to play the piano before turning in early and falling into a deep and dreamless sleep. He was disturbed from it quite rudely by Reiner kicking him out of bed.

"Braun!" He wailed, badly tangled in the sheets. "What the hell!"

"Shut it, Dragon boy!" The enormous blonde snarled menacingly, eyes glowing not gold but red; Eren felt himself go cold as he shrank back against the bed. The eyes were the very same that he remembered from the alley way; the shadow rushing towards him with a flash of white fangs. Fear over whelmed him, escaping with a small whimper. He wanted to call for Levi, to cling to his Sire's body and beg to be protected. But Levi wasn't there to save him. "You put things together fast, Yeager. Yes, I'm a Sabbath and so are the other two. Yes, we attacked you that night. But, no, I'm not here to hurt you Prince. Our Sire wants to meet you; he's already met your sister and your friend."

Mikasa. Armin. "Damn you!"

"I said quiet!" the other hissed back, looming menacingly over him. "The humans are of no consequence; you cooperate, no one gets hurt. You make so much as one sound to alert the Strigoi, however, and they won't come out in one piece. I promise you that much."

It was a trap, that much was obvious. Was he even telling the truth? What if he wasn't? What if he was? Eren really didn't know what to do. "Where?"

"Your old apartment; I'll show you out." Reiner flashed a threatening smile that was all fangs. "And remember, one sound."

One week and just about 300 dollars later they were once again camped out in Eren's now empty apartment sorting through the assortment of objects set before them. A gun loaded with a clip of silver bullets, a handful of maple wood stakes, a crossbow loaded with wooden bolts, a gigantic silver cross and a handful of crystal vials filled with salt graveyard dirt and holy water.

"Are you sure that any of this will actually work?" Armin asked her as he picked up the silver cross.

"It's what the myths say."

"Exactly, _myths._" He pointed out. "This thing looks like something straight off the movie set of Van Hellsing!"

"What else do we have to go off of?" Mikasa demanded.

"We could look at things factually; he may just be allergic to silver."

"The only things with an allergy to silver are Vampires, Werewolves and Demons!" She shot back. "The supernatural is the only thing that could possibly explain-," a powerful force crashed into the door, buckling it outwards on its hinges and making them both look up in alarm. A second blow assailed the wood and it flew open, revealing a tall aging man on the other side. His eyes glowed red, and his face spread into a sinister grin as his gaze fell on them.

"So much better having the pair of you in the same place," he said. "It makes it easy to bait the trap. Now all that's left to do is wait for Mr. Yeager to make his appearance." Catching sight of her hand slowly moving towards the gun lying on the floor, the Vampire laughed. "Don't even try it, girl. I'm faster than that bullet, I promise you."

"What is it that you want from us, monster!" She snarled back.

"From you? Nothing. Provided you cooperate, I may let you live. That also depends on whether my real concern makes a timely appearance."

"After almost a month of living under Levi's tight ship, timely is my middle name." Eren's voice was a low snarl as he edged slowly into the room, eyes glowing gold and fangs bared. He wasn't sure if Reiner was still around or if he'd even followed him out of the house at all and he really didn't care; his focus was wholly on the Sabbath Vampire before him. "What exactly do you want with me?"

"Isn't it obvious, Prince? I want to kill you."

"I take it you're Pisces then."

A falsetto bow and an even slimier smile. "Indeed I am. King of the Vampires."

"_Levi is the King!"_

"Not anymore. I will kill you tonight, and then there will be no question to my rule."

"Like you said, I'm just a Prince. What do you gain from killing me before you kill him?"

Now the other laughed. "You mean he hasn't told you that he's dying?"

His green eyes went wide. "W-What! You're lying!"

"Lying? My dear boy, why would I tell you anything other than the truth when I'm about to strike you down? Dracula will be dead within the year; I would know. I am, after all, the one that cursed him!"

"You'll pay for this!" He snarled back, eyes flickering to Mikasa and Armin who both still sat frozen. "Run! Get out of here!"

"Yes, leave. Your meddling will only complicate things." Eren could only hope the scuffling sound he heard from behind him was the pair vacating the apartment as he flung himself at the elder with an enraged howl; Pisces easily caught him in the face with a brutal strike that sent him reeling. "You've made this far too easy, stumbling foolishly into what was obviously a trap." His struggles were useless, every strike countered and returned with ten times the force to leave him bruised bloody and stumbling as he was herded backwards out of the apartment and onto the landing; the cold railing bit into his back as his much stronger opponent grabbed him around the throat and hoisted him over the abyss. "A real pity that you, unlike your Sire, don't have wings." The sensation of falling was terrifying, made all the worse by how it all seemed to slow to a crawl as the cracked pavement of the parking lot below rushed up to meet him. Then, suddenly, something winged and fast grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him upwards, almost braining him on the ground in its haste to drag him back aloft.

"_Are you fucking stupid Yeager! I've told you, over and over again, not to go out alone! That they were looking for you! That you were a target and what do you go and do?" _Levi all but screamed at him, alighting on a neighboring rooftop with a final down stroke of his enormous black bat wings.

"H-How did you find me?" Eren wailed, feeling mild horror at the sight of the elder stumbling slightly on landing and clutching what he now understood to be his wounded side.

"How? The coven house under attack by the three infiltrators, you gone with no word and only one place you'd go. What was I supposed to think Shitty Brat!" He snapped back. "Go; run and find your sister and your friend. Erwin and the others should have managed to subdue the three new bloods by now, but there are others in the city of that much I'm sure. Take them to the Coven House; it's the only way that we stand any chance of protecting them with things the way they are."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to hold that balding bastard off!"

"You can't!" Eren protested, lurching forward to grab him in a tight hold. "You're hurt; dying! You can barely stand! He told me he did to you!"

_Fuck damn it. Of course he would!_ "Get off me!" He snarled, tearing free. "This is your own damn fault, Yeager! If you hadn't been so damn fucking stupid it wouldn't be this bad! _Go!" _He turned his back on the brunet before the look of hurt could really register and launched himself once more into the air. Seeing him coming, the other retreated back into the apartment only to have Levi break through the nearest window in a shower of splintered glass. "_Pisces!"_

"Vladimir. Or should I call you Levi now?" he leered at him mockingly. "Come to fight, have you? Don't make me laugh! Look at you; your skin lacerated by something so trivial as glass not healing as it should, your body exhausted by a flight that couldn't have lasted longer than five minutes. You don't have the strength to stand, let alone fight me. This won't be a battle, it'll be an execution."

"Don't count me out so quickly!" He grabbed the first thing his eyes fell on that appeared to be usable as a weapon; the silver cross burned his skin painfully, but the sight of it swinging towards his head sent his foe leaping backwards.

"You can't keep that up forever; the curse has all but sapped your body's ability to heal on its own!"

"I don't need to keep this up forever dumb ass. Just long enough to skewer you!" Again he lunged forward with it in an attempt to strike the other with the blade, only to have him dodge once more. The pain was intensifying, the skin beginning to liquefy where it came into contact with the metal.

"Enough!" The other knocked it out of his grasp with a snarl. "Do you not remember, boy, who it was that taught you to stand on your own? To feed yourself? To use a sword? Who it was who schooled you in the poison to use to kill off your parents and siblings systematically one by one until the throne was left to you? Who aided you in summoning the Devil and trading your soul for the immortality you so desired! Who advised you in wielding your power! You think that you can best me?" A second strike caught him hard across the chest, sending blood flying and making him stumbled; his legs gave out and he fell, but managed to get up again. "Maybe once upon a time you could have, but now you're nothing more than a shadow of your former power. This is what Erwin has done to you; what you would have let him do to all of us!" This time the strike was to the head, knocking him back into the wall with a thunderous crash and splitting the wound in his side slightly wider. His vision was beginning to go in and out of focus as he slumped onto his knees. The taste of his own blood filled his mouth as it dribbled from his mouth and he struggled to breathe.

_Damn it._

"Look at you. Broken. Defeated so easily."

_He's right. I'm next to nothing now; shattered and weak._

"I had intended to allow you to die peacefully, but now you've left me no choice but to do what I should have done that night you agreed to sign the Strigoi's Accord. I should never had trusted a curse to end you; I'll rip your heart out myself."

_I'm going to die. Those will be my last words to him._ He let his eyes fall closed and his head fall back against the wall as the heavy footsteps drew slowly towards him, savoring the taste of victory. _Eren. I didn't mean what I said-this wasn't your fault-but it was the only thing I could think of to make you do what I told you to. I wanted you to run. To get back to the safety of the Coven house so that you'd stand a chance of living. I only hope you won't hate me for it._ The sparkling green eyes, the short soft brown hair, the faint shy smile he'd only showed him rarely. He did what he could to keep these images in mind as the shadow fell over him.

"I'll do all in my power to see to it that you feel every second of this," the Sabbath snarled vicously. "Beg for mercy, dog!"

"My Lord does not beg for anything!" A hiss of anger and the sounds of a brief but brutal struggle, followed swiftly by retreating footsteps. A hand-small and familiar-coming to rest gently on his forehead. But it wasn't possible. It couldn't be her. It was an unbelievable struggle to force his eyes open to reveal her concerned amber eyes.

"Petra."

"Conserve your strength, Sire." She told him softly. "Rest. You're safe."

What about Eren? Were the others there? What had happened at the Coven house? So many things he wanted to ask, but all strength had deserted him. Pulled upwards into the strong arms of the woman who had long been his most trusted and loyal follower, his eyes rolled back into his head and he lost consciousness completely.


	9. Wound

Huffing and puffing. Panting for breath, running terrified through the streets. Eren, no longer missing but a Vampire. Fighting another Vampire in his apartment. They were both exhausted, their minds unable to process exactly what it was that had just happened to them and, worse yet, they were no longer alone.

"Mikasa!" Armin squeaked. "We're being followed!"

"What?" her head whipped around and another jolt of fear shot through her frame. A shadow was streaking towards them, tall and dark and fast with glowing eyes. "_Faster Armin!"_

"Stop!" A familiar voice called up to them. "Mikasa, Armin, for God's sake _stop!_"

"Eren?" she skidded to a stop and the blonde behind her nearly smashed into her back. "It is you!" The brunet, out of breath just as they were, finally managed to catch up with them. "What-?"

"No time to explain!" He was covered from head to toe in healing cuts and bruises, blood trickling down into his eyes. "We need to get back to the Coven House as soon as possible! Levi…he's fighting, but he isn't strong enough with his injuries! If we can reach Erwin and Hanji in time they might be able to save him!"

"Eren!" Mikasa tried to grab her brother's hand but he'd already started forwards again and the other two were left with no choice but to follow. "Please, just tell us what happened. How are you a Vampire? Who-."

"I will explain, I promise I will, but not now. There's no time!" He cut her off again, veering quickly down an alleyway. "There are more Sabbath out here; we're in danger if we-! _Shit!_" Catching sight of the woman leaning against the wall on the other side of the alley, he skidded to a stop. "Annie!"

"Don't tell me that you're actually surprised to see me here, 'Dragon Boy'." She growled at him, her usually uninterested expression replaced with something savage. "Your precious Sire has been butchered by now. Unlike those idiots, Reiner and Berthold, I'll be rewarded by Lord Pisces when I bring him your head on a silver platter 'Prince'."

_How the hell am I supposed to fight her? I have no training, I'm wounded and exhausted from the fight with Pisces and I have to worry about Mikasa and Armin!_ He thought, matching a step forward by her with a step of his own in the opposite direction. _But I can't just roll over. Levi…if it's true that he's dead it's because of me, and if I die too than the Strigoi are doomed for sure and that bastard wins! I won't let that happen!_ Eren did his best to mimic the fighting pose he'd seen Levi take the one time he'd made him mad enough to warrant physical punishment but did a very poor job of it and the round house kick that she launched at him landed itself square in the middle of his chest. Ribs cracked. Blood flew from his lips. Stars exploded in his vision as his head banged against the alleywall he fell against.

"_Eren!"_

"No, Mikasa! Stay back!" His vision was blurry, eyes watering as blow after punishing blow was landed on his frame until, finally, the Sabbath Vampire seemed to tire of playing with him. She drew slowly forwards towards a moaning and still barely upright Eren with blood dripping from her claws. Wordless, but still somehow mocking. How he wished, in that moment, for a skill that would help him in battle. What use was being a Sevant to anyone when it couldn't help him win a fight? A soft breeze blew down the alleyway, gentle as it touched his face only to become something close to gale force in an instant. Blood flew from the wounded attacker as she reeled back with a shriek of fury and disappeared. Pressure bore down heavily upon his shoulders, sucking the air from his lungs. He saw Mikasa and Armin both go down, and then his knees buckled and everything went black as the wind at last died away.

"It's been quite a while since I've seen you use your Cutting Wind technique Oluo." Eld noted as the two emerged from the shadows. "But was it entirely necessary to resort to such lengths against a lone young blood?"

"Perhaps not, but unlike your powers mine are capable of discriminating between friend and foe."

"So that's you're excuse." The blonde sighed. "You just wanted to show off."

"It isn't showing off, Jinn, when you have the strength that I do."

"If Petra catches you trying to do one of your shit-poor imitations of our Lord again she won't be happy. Now be quiet before you bite your tongue again and help me. We shouldn't them lying on the ground." Hoisting Eren and Mikasa each over one shoulder, he turned back to him. "We're on a strict time table, in case you've forgotten; Petra expects us back and the sun is going to rise in an hour."

"Well, we certainly wouldn't want to keep the Lady Petra waiting."

"Careful Bossard. She has little tolerance enough already for you and she'll have even less under the current circumstances." He warned shrewdly, watching the other as he lifted the small blonde from the alley floor.

"She just pretends that she doesn't like it."

He rolled his eyes. "Right."

"We're actually mates you know."

"Oh? So are Gunther and I." Eld snorted back sarcastically. "Let's go; we've wasted enough time already."

When Eren regained consciousness he found himself lying on a couch in an enormous, unfamiliar room. Armin and Mikasa, still unconscious but unharmed, were nestled into beds made out of blankets on the floor. It wasn't the coven house. There were no familiar sights or scents anywhere.

_Where am I?_ he wondered. Had he been taken captive? Why wasn't he tied down? Didn't the Sabbath want him dead? Getting to his feet, Eren made his way across the room and opened up the door. On the other side he found a long dark hallway with flush wine colored carpet and expensive paintings hanging on the walls. A staircase dropped off into the darkness to one side of him, and nearby a window showed that night had fallen once again outside. From beneath a door on the far end of the hallway a light shone. Creeping stealthily down the hall, he pushed the door slightly open and peered inside. He found a master bedroom on the other side; on the enormous bed lay Levi's motionless form, bare chested and much paler than he should have been. For the first time he got a good look at the curse wound; starting from the hip and ending just below his ribcage was an enormous slash, torn open and pouring blood, the raw flesh stained black in places as if horribly infected. It appeared to be necrotized and even before his eyes was spreading. Had a soft pained sound not escaped the unconscious man just then Eren would have thought him dead. Gathered around the bed were four other Vampires; three men and a woman. He could tell that they were Sabbath from the ruby hue of their eyes. The men-one blonde, one black haired and one a dusty brunet-stood in the far corner of the room while the woman-ginger haired and even shorter than Levi himself was-sat beside the bed. Silence reigned inside until the woman spoke.

"That's it, then? The three of you are expecting me to believe that there is nothing that we can do?" she hissed, cold and furious. "How can you actually suggest to me that we stand by and watch as the man we pledged our lives to serve dies! What of Erwin? Surely the Strigoi sorcerer can do something for him now as he did then?"

"It's doubtful that he could," the black haired one said. "The last time that we went to him for aid he warned us that, should the wound ever open again it would be beyond his power."

"I wish I didn't have to say it but Gunther is right," the blonde replied. "On top of that, Erwin and his coven are gone. We went to where their Coven house was and found nothing but ashes; it's unknown if they're even still alive."

"Petra, even if we managed to stop the bleeding the posion in the curse wound could still take him as could any of the other wounds that he's suffered; his body's ability to heal has all but disappeared. There's little chance that he'll survive either way."

"What would you have us do then, Oluo?" She snapped.

"Lord Dracula may die, but his heir is safe and soundly sleeping at the other end of this hallway." He said. "That boy is the future of our kind, but it's clear that he's been given no training in how to fight. He's very young. If he is to be King, he'll need our help."

"You're saying that we should give our Lord up for lost and raise the boy?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. And I think that that is what our Lord would want."

Levi would die? Because he was stupid enough to go running off into trouble too deep to get out of on his own? He couldn't just stand by and let that happen. Eren had torn open the palm of his hand with his fangs and pushed open the door before he even realized what he was doing; he rushed inside, darting to the bed as the four others stood in stunned surprise. He pressed his bleeding wound to the other's open side; steam and heat erupted outwards, filling the room as his blood reacted violently with the curse. When the cloud of steam finally cleared the bleeding had stopped and the wound had closed over by thin flaps of barely-holding-together skin. The four Sabbath were still staring at him in silent surprise.

"…He's a Sevant." The woman, Petra, finally broke the silence as Eren stood panting with his hand dripping blood as the wound slowly closed itself up. "Our Lord may make it, now. He's stubborn and strong, and the rest is up to him." Turning her attention to him, she got to her feet. "My Prince, may I ask your name?"

"E-Eren Yeager." His eyes flashed back to Levi's form and then away again. "Who are you? Are you Sabbath? What do you want?"

"Yes, we are Sabbath Vampires but we are not your enemy. My name is Petra Ral; they are Eld Jinn, Gunther Schultz and Oluo Bossard. I know you must be confused and frightened, but believe me when I tell you that we're here to help." Extending a hand towards him, she smiled. "If you're come with me, Eren, I'll be happy to explain everything."


	10. Past

**Just a little bit of explination so this chapter makes sense; Levi is in a coma from his injuries and as such is having flashbacks of past events**

***Sora – Romanian for Sister**

It was cold that night, the endless stars spinning above the balcony of the black castle. The darkness was like deep satin, the shadowed forest whispering in the wind as the bruised and bloodied buy leaned heavily against the stone banister, his chin resting on his arms beneath the moonlight streaming down from the heavens that was the same color as his eyes. It was there that she found him, isolated as he often tended to be from the rest of the castle. He didn't seem to notice her presence there, so she stopped to take in the sight of him. She loved him, strongly and truly; not in a romantic sense, not at all, but rather as a brother and a best friend. Someone who understood and supported him when no one else did. He was the youngest of the Count's 13 children, and last in the line of succession for the throne. Small for his age and sickly, he didn't have much hope of succeeding his cruel father's place and the man paid him no mind. The mother, too, was indifferent to his suffering and his 12 older brother's took great joy in making his life a misery. They'd beat him again; she could tell by the black eye and other blueish purple bruises which had been splashed across his perfect ivory skin and the blood which matted his black hair in places. She crept up behind her friend and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a gentle hug; he relaxed into her touch, leaning his head back to rest on her shoulder.

"Petra, you've come to me." How she adored his dark purr of a voice.

"I'll always come to you Vladimir, just as I know you'll always come to me." She replied with her bright and happy smile. Had one walked in on them from outside it would have struck them as odd that a richly dressed noble like him to be in the company of a simply dressed servant girl like her, but the two 12 year olds were entirely content to bask in each other's presence. "They attacked you again?" He nodded, but didn't answer. "And you let them?"

"Fighting back is fruitless, it just makes it worse." The sigh that he emitted sounded slightly pained, likely at the fault of the bruised or broken ribs that his clothing concealed. "I'm just glad you're here Soră."

"You know that we're not really siblings." She said gently as her heart fluttered. His grey eyes swiveled upwards to meet hers for a brief moment before closing again.

"Better you than them," he replied softly. "You're like a sister to me, Petra. You treat me far better than my real family does. Aren't I a brother to you?"

"Of course," she giggled back, squeezing him gently. "I've told you that before."

His soft raven tresses brushed against her cheek as he nodded. "You have, but that doesn't mean I don't want to hear it again once in a while."

An amicable silence settled over the companions as they sat there, content in each other's company. Finally, Petra spoke up again. "What were you doing out here all alone, Vladimir? It's cold and you're not in good health."

"I know, but I needed to be alone."

"Why?"

"My tutor, Pisces, he told me a story earlier. A Greek myth; a great inventor named Deadalus was unable to bare the thought of a rival, so when he was tasked with schooling his nephew Perdix in the arts of the mechanical he felt threatened by the other's ingenuity and pushed him off a high tower in hopes that he would fall to his death but the Goddess Athena interviened and transformed him into a Sparrow. I was thinking about how great it would be if I could turn into a bird, just like Perdix. I'd fly away to a better life."

"You'd leave me here to do it?" she asked him sadly, only to start in surprise when his cold fingers interlocked with her own.

"Of course not; I'd take you with me! We'd go far away to one of those mythical places; Crete, or Delphi, or one of the lands far to the east from which merchants bring back silk and tales of dragons! I'd be king there, like father is, but I'd be a better ruler! I'd care for the plight of my people!"

"And a great king you'd be," she told him softly. "Wise and strong and just."

For a while after that they sat there watching the stars, then the Raven spoke again. "Petra?"

"Yes, Vladimir?"

"What do you think it would be like to be immortal?"

_Three sprigs of the spittle of Kerberos, a spoonful of the extract of a Lygos tree, and a drop of the nectar of Narcissus. Perfect; all according to plan._ The liquid rendering down in a small cauldron over an open flame was deep blue in color, emitting smoke of the same hue and a sickly sweet scent. The orange glow of the embers reflected in his eyes made the 15 year old teen look almost Demonic. If the words of the self-proclaimed sorcerer were true then this soul-sucking poison was the answer to all of his problems.

"Immortality?" the now 20 year old youth rolled the word around on his tongue, tasting its moth-eaten and somewhat acrid flavor as he took in the horned and winged fallen angel crouched before him on the floor wearing nothing but a crown of bones. The thing he'd so long wanted. The thing that the King of the Damned, the Devil himself, now dangled before him. "Yes, I would trade my soul for that." A grin that was far to wide to be physically possible spread across the fiend's at least somewhat human face, its eyes glowing as coals and its maw filled with pointed fangs. It waved its hand in thin air and a goblet of black agate appeared, which it then proceeded to fill with its blood.

"Then drink, Dracula." He took the cup from the Demon and raised it to his lips; the liquid within was thick and hot and burned like fire as it went down his throat, leaving behind an insatiable lust for more of the life giving substance drained from the neck of still struggling prey. Hearing the five other's present shifting nervously in the shadows as fangs grew from his skull and wings from his back, he threw back his head and screamed.

Rain streaked the enormous window of the black castle where he'd ruled as King for just over 100 years. His eyes glowed a soft red, his skin gaunt and fangs protruding from his thin-lipped mouth with lack of food. The Sabbath, his subjects, proud full blood vampires. Erwin and his Strigoi hounds; the enemy who would have them bend to the level of protecting their prey. But times were dire. The war had waged for years, but just as his people were on the cusp of winning the lands of Transylvania, his kingdom, had run dry. His soldiers-an army thousands strong-weakened as Erwin's kind, fed on the unclean blood of animals, still held strong. Now, it seemed, he was left with little choice.

His armor clanked softly as her small, gently hand came to rest on his arm. "My Lord, you need to feed." She said quietly, taking in the shadows beneath his eyes and the waxen hue of his skin. "We've plenty here at the castle; we need you strong, not starved."

"I suffer with my subjects." He replied, keeping his gaze focused on the window. "I bare their will to fight and the pain of their immortal existence on my shoulders, and in return allow them to draw from my strength."

"But my Lord-!"

"No, Petra! I will not partake until this is resolved."

"But, Lord Dracula, that could take years! You'll die!"

"No, it won't. It will take days, if that." He told her softly. "I've called upon the Strigoi leader; Erwin Smith is his name. At the onset of all of this I did not agree with them…the thought of drinking the blood of animals to preserve the Human race disgusts me, but I can no longer deny that the consiquences of our blatant overconsumption are very real. Desperate measures must be taken; _something_ must be done, lest all of us become lost!"

For a moment the only sound in the cavernous room was the pattering of the rain outside. "Your word is law, my Lord. I trust your judgment, as we all do."

"Pisces does not agree."

"Pisces is not the King," she told him. "You are. And there is nothing he can do to undermine what you say."

Of that simple fact he wasn't so sure.

The following night would see the final signing of the accords that had been drawn up beneath the Sabbath and the Strigoi. The Strigoi Lord, Erwin, had left his presence just hours ago and now the throne room was quiet and dark. Once again, it was raining. Once again, he was standing at the window with only his troubled thoughts as company. He heard the doors swing open, but didn't look up.

"Vladimir," it was Pisces. "Reconsider what you would do, boy! How could you consign our proud people to the yoke of a filth-blooded turned one like Erwin when we will inevitably win this war!"

"Winning or losing the war is not the reason that I've come to the decision to create this accord, Pisces." He replied quietly. "My people are starving. Our prey has run out. Even if we were to wipe out the Strigoi we wouldn't survive for very long continuing the way we have been."

"So that is your decision? You won't be swayed?" the other was dangerous, but the younger still thought nothing of it.

"Do you have a rebuttal that would change my decision, Pisces? I do only what is best for my people."

"As do I." Something razor sharp and burning hot lay into his flesh, making him scream in surprise and pain and crash to the floor. Blood was pouring out onto the tile, his body's healing ability rapidly deserting him. Pain was consuming him, a monster devouring him alive. And there stood the man that had deceived him all along, the thick scarlet liquid dripping sluggishly from the blade of the evil looking dagger that he held. "Death to the King." Everything went black.


	11. The Four Swords and the Lovers

**I got a question in reviews in regards to Eren's ability to fight and I'd like to clarify this: His ability to heal isn't an ability that can aid him in combat, but that doesn't mean he can't fight. He simply hasn't retrieved any combat training at the moment, leading his fighting skills rather lacking.**

"It's hard to fathom that we actually had to resort to scuttling the Coven House! We'd have saved ourselves a shit ton of time and effort later on if we'd just left it standing!"

"Jean, think of things reasonably. We were being attacked from all sides by a Sabbath force far larger than we were. We had to grab what we could carry and run, but there were sensitive documents left behind that couldn't be allowed to fall into enemy hands. On top of that, how can we safely return to a place where we've already been found?"

"What about Levi? Eren? They were on their own out there fighting the Sabbath!"

"And there out there still, of that much I'm sure; Eren may not have received training yet, but Levi is powerful and resourceful and-."

"Sick!" He cut in. "Didn't you ever notice how easily he'd become tired? How much he'd sleep? How Hanji and Erwin had to hunt for him as if he were a new blood? They're both dead, Marco! What the hell is there left to fight for?"

"Freedom, perhaps? The right to live? There are a laundry list of other reasons for us to continue fighting them Jean." The imposing blonde stood in the doorway of the empty cubical where the two had hidden; how long he may have been there wasn't known to either of them, and that fact was more than enough to embarrass Marco though Jean seemed unbothered by it. "Eren and Levi are to be considered alive until proven otherwise. We continue to fight."

"Continue to fight? _Continue to fight!" _Jean was on his feet now, his eyes flashing gold as he bared his fangs at their Sire in fury. Marco grabbed his hand to try and stop him, but the other shook him off. "_There were once 500 Strigoi following you, Erwin! They were systematically hunted down and now were all that's left because we fought your losing battle! If we surrender, Pisces might kill you sure but the rest of us? If we beg for mercy-!"_

"You'll be tricked, tortured and killed." Much to their surprise, the elder Vampire was calm as ever dispite the other's outburst. "Listen to me, Jean, there were others who thought the same way that you do. Pisces deceived him into thinking he had been forgiven, then he took his mate and forced him to watch as she was torn apart. Only once he begged for death was he slaughtered as well. Surrendering to the Sabbath under Pisces is relying on a mercy that is non-existant. He isn't the king that Levi was; he only cares for power." The anger on Jean's face was replaced by horror as he drew back, standing stunned for a moment before adhering himself to Marco's side even tighter than before. Silent, Erwin left the room and moved on to the roof; as he suspected he found her there, nervously shuffling through the cards of the red and black deck of cards. "Hanji."

"I can't sense either of them, Erwin." She piped up instantly. "During the struggle at the coven house I felt Levi fading but Eren was fine, but now they're both just…gone."

"You think that they are dead?"

"I don't know."

"But you think that they are?" Hesitantly she nodded. "What cards have you been drawing on the matter?"

With a sigh, she showed them to him. "The Four Swords; great warriors of yore have come onto the field of battle, though for which side they fight is still a mystery."

"That's only one." He noted. "What's the other."

"The lovers." Hanji replied. "Love has blossomed, but it hasn't been shared yet by either side. It's a powerful force, Erwin. Strong enough, even, to heal wounds that nothing else can hope to. Though…it's place in this matter is…difficult to outline."

"And these cards worry you?" she nodded.

"Yes. They do."

"Why?"

For a long moment she simply stared at him without replying. "There's a storm somewhere, Erwin."

He felt sick from drinking even a small portion of extremely diluted blood, but even though his body could barely handle it Eren reasoned that it was better than starving. The room was dark, warmed by the fire crackling low in the hearth that was the only source of light. He was only half awake, his eyelids heavy and half open. It was two days later, and Levi still lay comatose in the bed; he hadn't gotten better but he hadn't worsened either and for that much he was grateful. He didn't know if he would ever wake up, but he'd periodically sneak blood passed his Sire's slightly open lips or shed tears over the slowly reopening wounds in the hope that it would help; at the moment tears weren't all that difficult to come by.

"Eren?" he raised his head from where he'd nestled it against the side of the bed to find Mikasa standing in the doorway of the bedroom, worry in her dark eyes.

"Mikasa," his voice was cracked from lack of use. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes, my brother is a Vampire and he's walled himself up with the bastard that made him that way!"

The chair he'd been sitting in scrapped softly against the wooden floor as he pushed it back and stood up. "Please don't call him that. This isn't his fault."

"But he is the one who turned you, isn't he?"

"I asked for it!" Maybe it was the revelation that surprised her, maybe it was the snapped tone that it was delivered in, either way she took a step backwards. "Listen, I promised that I'd explain right? I think I've put it off long enough. But not in here, I don't want to disturb him."

"Then where?"

"Outside on the front steps."

"But it's daytime Eren!"

"So?" he quipped. "The whole 'burn to ashes under the sun' thing is a myth. We're just nocturnal, like bats." Without further ado he crossed the room to meet her in the doorway. "Come on." Down the hallway and curved stair case they went, out of the front door and onto the manor's stone steps. The emerald green lawns of Sina's rich district sprawled before them, shimmering under the sun in the same color as his eyes and stretched down towards a sapphire blue pond on which a flock of white birds floated. "On the night that I was supposed to have you guys over for dinner I realized that I was missing an important ingredient and so I ran down to the corner stair to buy it. I was still freaked out because of the reading so I tried to take a shortcut through an alley but, you know what they say, one often meets his destiny on the road they take to avoid it. A trio of Sabbath vampires were waiting for me; they attacked me and left me to die. I was lying there helpless when Levi appeared; he must have smelled the blood and come looking for the source. I had minutes left by the time he found me, and I don't doubt that it came as at least a mild surprise to find me still conscious."

"So, while you were laying there dying on the ground he attacked you again? Bit you and turned you?"

"That's another myth; a Vampire's bite isn't what turns a person."

"Then what does?"

Cold, slightly chapped by still soft lips against his own as the sly tongue slipped past, carrying with it the taste of blood; Eren felt his face starting to heat up. "T-They call it 'the Vampire's kiss; the Sire feeds their Childe a portion of their blood, turning them into a Vampire. He turned me because I begged him not to let me die. I lost consciousness afterwards and literally woke up 6 feet under."

"They buried you _alive!_"

"Another necessary step; the legends mean it when they say that we are undead. We turned while buried, and then claw our way out of our graves." He explained. "I found myself in the back yard of their coven house and managed to drag my ass inside. I found Levi there waiting for me; he explained everything."

"Everything?"

He sighed. "That I was a Vampire, and he was my Sire and everything that that meant. He explained that I was classified as a Pure Blood rather than a Turned One dispite formerly being human because of his blood being used in my transformation."

"And why would that make a difference?"

"Because his real name is Vladimir Dracula; he's the King of the Vampires, but he was forced to take another name and go into hiding after his advisor Pisces betrayed him."

"So you're not a 'Sabbath'."

"No, I'm a Strigoi. We don't drink human blood."

"But they are?"

"You're referring to Petra and the others?" she nodded. "Yes, they are."

"What's the difference?"

"The Sabbath are the Vampires you hear about in myth and legend; Pure Bloods that look down on Turned ones and regard Humans as food. The only noticeable difference between us is-."

"Your eyes. The color." She looked down. "I've noticed." Silence. "So you're a Prince?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Why do they want you dead so badly?"

"Because…Levi is slowly dying from a cursed wound that he received a long time ago. There's no treatment for it, and pretty soon I'll inherit his crown. And that makes me a threat to Pisces' power."

"And he's the one currently ruling the Sabbath?" he nodded. "What about the four inside? How can you trust them not to turn on you?"

"Petra explained a lot of the past to me that Levi didn't. They were the first to turn into Vampires after him. His direct coven; his greatest assassins and warriors who he always kept close as a royal guard of sorts. They swore a blood oath to him that is impossible to betray, and once he dies that loyalty will be passed on to me. The don't agree with Pisces or his ideas and have been trying to find and aid Erwin for years."

"So you're going to fight?"

"I'm going to learn how to."

"You'll be careful, won't you Eren?"

He smiled. "Of course."

"I'm glad."

A soft wind blew as the birds rose off the water in a whirl of white. "Have you and Armin eaten yet?"

"Some bread; they don't exactly have much in the way of food here." She replied. "What about you? You don't look well, Eren."

"…I've had a little blood, but it's not a good idea for me to have too much. My system is still mostly human, and too much whole blood will end up acting as a poison." He sighed. "That's my issue; I'm a new blood, and for the 1st century or so of being a Vampire we depend on drinking our Sire's blood but I don't want to risk that in the state he's in. It's touch and go already."

"What if they find you. They're hunting, aren't they?"

"Who?"

"The Sabbath!"

"They probably are, but they won't find us; precautions have been taken. Gunther's ability is to control and manipulate the Earth; he's surrounded the grounds with a stone called Blood Agate which makes tracking abilities utterly useless while in the outside of the perimeter."

"And you're sure that this is enough to protect you?"

"No," he admitted. "But we can hope."

"Hope," she repeated wistfully. "A hard thing to hold onto, but necessary in times like these."

"Yeah, it sure is." Standing up, he stretched. "The sun will set in a few hours. I'll ask one of them to take you to the store so that you can get some real food."

"That'd be nice, thank you." She said. "You're going back to sleep?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I am."

"In your own room?"

"No." Feeling her cutting gaze, he sighed. "I'm a healer, Mikasa. I need to be there in case he gets worse."

She clearly didn't like the idea, but let him go anyway. "Why is this so important to you?"

"He saved my life; I owe him this much. And because, if I hadn't run off, he wouldn't have had to fight Pisces and he wouldn't have gotten so badly hurt."

"Who told you that?"

"It doesn't matter who told me it, it's the truth!" He yanked to doors open with more force than he needed to, leaving cracks in the stone on which they hung. "I'll talk to you later, alright? I really need to get back to sleep." With that he fled back into the shadows, leaving her alone to stare after him in surprise.


	12. Dragon's Rage

Mikasa and Armin had left with Petra only around half an hour before and since then no one had come in to the bedroom to bother him. Tired from a day of disrupted sleep Eren found himself again ripped from sound sleep by the shifting of the sheets beneath him. Raising his head with a quiet sound of surprise, he found Levi finishing his struggle to sit up against the large mound of pillows that had been stacked beneath him.

"You're awake!"

"Like hell, brat!" His voice sounded pained and he looked horrible; skin the yellowish hue of brittle parchment and stretched thin over bone, eyes sunken bruised and dull. And the realization that he hadn't staved off his death for very long smashed into him, making him feel as if he wanted to cry. "What time is it, brat?" Even his words had lost their usual bite.

"Sunset was about an hour ago," he admitted quietly. "But I haven't really been sleeping well lately."

Maybe it was the revelation of that fact, maybe it was the slight signs of starvation that had begun to become evident in his face, but either way the other's usual deadpan glare morphed into an honest expression of concern.

"When's the last time you fed, brat?"

"Two days before…this happened."

"And how long have I been out?"

"Almost three."

"And you haven't had anything for almost five days? Tell me you're about to deliver a shitty punchline to let me know you're not actually serious!" Eren didn't move. "What the shitting hell were you starving yourself for, Yeager! What good did you possibly think would come of that?"

"I-I…" he trailed off, feeling tears beginning to burn against the backs of his eyes and cursing himself for his body's betrayal; he sniffed, unable to find words.

"Damn it brat." But there was a tender quality to the formerly cutting words, and a pair of cold shaking hands were on his face gently brushing the salty tears away. The next thing he knew he was lying half on the bed and half off crying uncontrollably into Levi's chest and pouring out the truth about everything that had happened.

"Regardless, you shouldn't hesitate on such a thing for my sake; my time is rapidly coming to a close, Eren, and you need to be strong enough to rise and take my place."

"I don't want to take your place, I want you to live! If it's true what they say and I am a Sevant than why can't I heal you?"

Almost without realizing that he was doing it, Levi wrapped his arms around Eren in a weak but comforting embrace. "Some things, once broken, can't be fixed Eren. That's just the way things are."

"I don't like it!" He muttered into the crook of his neck, and for once the other smiled.

"I don't either, but there's nothing we can do."

"I don't believe that, there's always a way!"

"This isn't a fairy tale, brat! There's no blue fairy at the end of your hero's quest which can magically make me better. And God knows the Devil won't help you." A pause. "Listen, what I said on the roof…I didn't mean it. I just said the first thing that came to mind to try and get you to run." The younger didn't answer, but seemed to calm down and snuggled closer against him. For a moment the thought crossed his mind that, had his heart still beat, it would have started pounding at the moment Eren accidently pressed their chests together. "The others are here as well?"

"No. Erwin and the others…the Coven House was found burned to the ground."

"I see," he said grimly. "And Petra is out?"

"With my sister and friend, yes."

"Then call Eld and the others to me. Please, Eren. I need to speak with them."

"I'll be back." Getting up somewhat reluctantly from his place curled beside him on the bed, the younger left the room and returned a few minutes later with the three in tow.

"My Lord! You're awake!" Was the general consensus of surprise; apparently his condition was even worse that he had thought.

"Yes, I am awake." He turned his gaze on Eren. "Give us a moment." He could tell that the brunet wanted no part of leaving, but he obeyed regardless. "Erwin is gone?"

"We didn't find any bodies, but it is most likely the Strigoi have fallen." Eld informed him quietly.

"Very well. It is left to us, then. The four of you shall be my swords, and by your hand I shall show Pisces that nothing is more dangerous than a Dragon in his death throws! In my name, hunt down and slaughter every Sabbath Vampire that dares set foot in this city! In my final days it is there blood that I will drink!"

3 weeks later…

"I don't know what's going on!"

"Yeah, it's getting really scary!"

"I thought that we were the only ones fighting the Sabbath. And now they're being found brutally murdered, impaled and drained of blood? Are we next?"

The new bloods were panicked, and Hanji found herself becoming nervous. Erwin, however, looked unruffled as ever when she found him in one of the office rooms of the abandoned building they had sheltered in.

"They're becoming frightened over this." She told him.

"I'm aware."

"And you're not bothered at all?"

We've seen this before, back during the war. Do you remember? Back when we were in open warfare and he was content on killing us, he was string up his captives and murder them in this same way; drain their blood and drink it as a warning. Political posturing at its most brutal."

"So…you think Levi is doing this?"

"It doesn't mean that he is alive or that he is behind it," he clarified after a moment. "All that it means is that someone who does not agree with Pisces is doing it to make a statement and they're leaving the dragon symbol behind to make it undeniably clear that they are on Levi's end of things politically."

"The Sabbath deaths coupled with the recent raids on the local blood banks would mean-."

"Four great warriors of Yore." Snapping shut the book he'd been reading, he stood up. "It's them."

"Are they a threat to us, do you think?"

Erwin thought this over for a while before sighing. "I don't know, but we're on a ledge here. We can't run forever, we have to fight some time, and their powers would prove invaluable aid in that regard. It's worth the risk."

"I trust your judgment."

"Their movement shows a pattern; they butcher a Sabbath every 1st 2nd and 7th days of the week and raid every 5th. This has kept up every week for a month's time tomorrow."

"Which is Friday. The 5th day of the week." He nodded. "You're hoping to use this pattern to catch them?"

"We need to know exactly where it is that they've hidden themselves before we can make any moves to join forces. But they're clever enough to have masked their nest well, so long distance tracking methods like yours will do no good. We'll have to do this the old fashioned way."

"Sasha?"

"Yes. She's our best close quarters tracker. And we'll send Jean for his fighting capability and Marco for his cool head."

"All new bloods? Why?"

"It would be too easy for the Sabbath to notice our movements if your or I were to go. Besides, the three of them are less likely to be perceived as a threat provided Jean keeps his temper."

"I suppose that we have no choice but to trust them on their own eventually."

"Yes, we do." Erwin replied. "But that will never stop us from worrying."

"_This has been going on for too long! Dok! Ackermann! Shadis! How many more of us have to die because of this before you stop keeping us in the dark!"_ It was rare to say the least that Berthold would be the one to lose his temper, and even rarer still that he'd be challenging the word of their leader so blatantly with claws out and fangs bared. Reiner was desperately trying to drag him away before anything further could develop from the standoff but Annie, much like Pisces, simply stared at him in unmoving silence. "_Targeted! Hunted! Butchered! Drained of blood and left impaled with a black blade emblazoned with HIS mark! You told us that they were dead! And you!" _His angry scarlet gaze transferred to her. _"You knew the truth from the beginning didn't you, lap dog bitch?"_

"H-He doesn't mean any of this, Sir! He's just…I don't know what's come over him!"

"_I mean every damn word of it so don't try and tell me I don't!"_

"Shut up! You're digging your own damn grave!"

"Enough of this, both of you!" The cold snap was enough to make all three stiffen despite the struggle at hand. "If you really want to know, we're looking at a group of four rebels from the era of Dracula's rule. The Strigoi are all but finished, they know that they're next and are trying to insight an insurrection in our ranks by making a shocking political statement. There is no way they could have saved their precious king with how far the curse had progressed, but they do have their useless Prince."

"So we're back at square one?" now it was Reiner who was getting annoyed.

"Square one? Far from it!" Pisces scoffed. "Let them enjoy their small victory; only their bones will remain soon enough!"


	13. Scent

"So, what, we're supposed to wait here until four psychotic Sabbath that like to kill their own kind show up to raid the place and then follow them home?"

"Yes, Jean. That is the plan."

"The suicide mission you mean?"

Marco sighed. "Look, I know that you're feeling a lot of pressure with the war and all-we all are-but you need to trust in Erwin's plan to-."

_Crunch!_ The incredibly loud sound led both boys to jump and turn to stare at the third member of their stakeout party who was currently engrossed in devouring an enormous bag of potato chips.

_"Sasha!_" Jean hissed harshly. "If you absolutely had to bring food with you couldn't you have chosen something quiet?"

"Sorry Jean." When she spoke little pieces of chips went flying everywhere.

"One of these days, I'm going to kill her."

"Today isn't that day; someone's coming! Hide!" The trio dove into a broom closet just as three unfamiliar shadows were thrown across the wall.

"Do you think we should get the brat something as well? The little snivel-drop practically turns up his nose at feeding like he's supposed to until our Lord makes him; he had the little bastard under full hypnosis last time and it very nearly put him back into that coma!"

"And Eren was sick over it."

"We all know that he isn't refusing to feed because he's ungrateful. The Prince is young, sure, but he isn't stupid. He's recognized that, after he feeds, our Lord's strength drops yet further."

"Gunther is right. And even if he was blatantly being stubborn for the sake of it you should still show our Prince the proper respect. He'll be the King soon, after all."

"I do show proper respect!"

"To his face, sure. If Petra catches you talking about him like that-."

"I am not afraid of Petra and I could honestly care less as to her opinion on the matter. She's been babying that brat and his human friends too damn much as it is."

"A few weeks ago you were trying to sell to me that the pair of you were secretly mates, and yet now you're saying that you don't care about her opinion?" a snickering scoff as the footsteps stopped outside the closet door.

"Oh come on Eld, we both know that that was an outright lie! Not that there's anything wrong in showing interest in Petra."

"Of course there is nothing wrong with it; a lot of people have affections for my beautiful Petra!"

"That's true," a momentary pause. "I remember when Erwin mistook her for being mated to the Lord."

"I remember when I thought she was mated to the Lord; it's an easy mistake to make with how close they always were. It was hard not to think they were intended."

"But she found her real intended in someone else. Sadly he was killed soon after in the war." The footsteps started up again. "She's still not over it and I doubt she ever will be. Good luck trying though."

Once the sounds of footsteps and voices had faded the trio pushed open the door and hesitantly emerged.

"Those," Marco said, looking shocked "were three _very_ old Vampires!"

"Like Erwin's age." Sasha piped up.

"More like Levi's," Jean grumbled as he helped Marco to his feet. "Eld Jinn; power over fire. Gunther Schultz; power over Earth. Oluo Bossard; power over wind. Petra Ral; power over water. The four strongest warrior's next to the king himself, they drank in the Devil's blood along with him."

"Woah! Powers like that are amazing! I bet Levi and Eren have great powers too, right! I heard that he could fly!"

"Keep is down, Sasha!" Jean snapped. "None of that makes them friendly."

"They're getting away! We have to follow them!" Remembering the mission at hand, the trio hurried down the hallway in pursuit of their targets to find them perusing the shelves as if the blood bank were a grocery store."

"This stuff may taste like plastic, but it's a lot better than animal blood." The blonde one said with a sigh. "Hard to believe that the Lord actually converted. It's strange seeing him with eyes like Erwin's."

"I could care less what color eyes he has so long as we don't have to worry about ending up with those eyebrows as a side effect of going Strigoi." The three shared a laugh over that.

"The 'modern world' has certainly made it easier to live like this; as a Sabbath without having to hunt or harm Humans. We can now preserve them and still have our natural food." Oluo pointed out as he examined a bag of blood closely. "Would you really follow through with going Strigoi Gunther?"

"Maybe, after the war is at end."

"I think I'd consider trying it, last a few months and then relapse."

At this Gunther laughed. "Eld, with that attitude you're setting yourself up for failure!" He said. "If our Lord could do it, we can."

"I'd be willing to classify Lord Dracula as former Strigoi; with all of the Sabbath blood he's been drinking, his eyes have all but returned to red. Not that it's helping him."

"It's granted him some strength, but we're running out of time and the Prince has only just begun his training."

"He's doing well; certainly more driven than one would expect. When he isn't posted at the Lord's bedside, he's taking out frustration on the dummies."

"Yes, well, when he's through training with you Gunther the gloves are coming off."

Eld sighed. "Hanging around with you, Bossard, forces me to confront the horrifying realization of how old fashioned we are to still be using terms like that."

"As if you would go easy on him, Jinn!"

"Enough, we're wasting time." Gunther interrupted, stepping in before it could dissolve into an argument. "Grab some AB for Petra and let's head back; God only knows the trouble Eren and his friends could have gotten themselves into by now." Grumbling about all of the disasters that could have possible happened, the other two fell into step beside him.

"We should probably run a patrol again; I know that it's a Friday, but we should still be sure."

"You're right; it's probably a good idea as patterns can be dangerous. But we should stop by the house to get Petra first."

"And make sure there still _is_ a house."

"I'm sure the Prince would be happy to hear about the amount of faith you have in his ability to look after a building that's incapable of getting up and running away."

"Yeah yeah!"

The trio left the room, bags of blood in hand, and set out down the hall towards the door. They followed; through the streets of the city into Sina's richest district, they stopped at a particularly large mansion on a hill where a ginger haired woman was waiting for them. Brief words were exchanged before a momentary disappearance. Then the four set off down the hill and disappeared.

"Coast is clear?" Marco piped up nervously.

"Clear as it's going to get, though we've no idea what kind of booby traps they have in there." Jean remarked. "Let's go, before they come back."

Steeling themselves, the trio emerged from the brush where they'd been crouched and cautiously made their way towards the house.

He could feel himself slipping more and more with each passing day, despite the attempts of some mysteriously manifesting healing force appearing time and time again in a desperate attempt to bring him back from the edge but its power waned with each successive time and he didn't doubt that soon enough it would have no effect at all. For quite a while he'd been at a loss for what the strange force was, but recently-after catching Eren in the act of trying to hide a rapidly healing wound behind his back-he'd realized what was going on; Eren was trying to save him. A fight that they both knew was hopeless, and one both knew the brunet would not give up. Even little movements were becoming beyond taxing but that didn't stop him from turning his head just slightly to look down at his near constant companion. There he was, again curled into a ball on top of the covers pressed as tightly to his uninjured side as he could get as if seeking comfort in the physical assurance of his presence. He looked relaxed enough to be sleeping, but Levi could tell by the glint of just visible gold that he was fully awake. And hungry.

"Eren-."

"I'm fine," he cut him off. "I had some deer blood about an hour ago. Don't worry about me."

_You shouldn't be doing this for me. I'm not worth it. I'll be dead soon anyway, so just put it out of your mind and do what needs to be done for yourself. You don't deserve to suffer for my failures. _But he knew speaking a word of his thoughts would only make him more determined to prove him wrong. In recent days he'd begun to suspect that it was perhaps something more than misplaced guilt that was driving the other's desperate thrashing to find a non-existent miracle cure. "You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do. I won't have your blood on my hands any more than it already is."

"It isn't on your hands at all, Yeager! You're not the one who-!" The sound of breaking glass from the floor below made both freeze where they were. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah," Eren said as he rolled up onto all fours and got out of bed. "I did. Mikasa and Armin are in bed. Petra and the others are out. Something is down there."

"Brat, where the hell do you think you're going?"

"To check it out," he replied, picking up the dull training sword which leaned against the wall.

"Be careful." Answering with a nod, he crept out into the hallway and down the stairs, crouching down behind the banister out of sight in the shadows. A humanoid shape was standing over a shattered plate.

"Shit!" It hissed. "Shit! Shit!"

He pounced while the shadow was distracted, sailing over the banister and pinning the invader to the ground by the throat. The golden eyes, wide with fear, made him pull up short. "Kirch-neigh?"

"Yeager?"

"You're alive?" the last part in disbelieving unison as Eren reluctantly got off him.

"Neither of you were at the house when they attacked; we'd assumed you'd been hunted down in the streets."

"That's not exactly what happened, but it's pretty damn close. We got into a fight with Pisces."

"Pisces!?"

"Yeah, I said that." But before Eren could say any more a blur shot past him down the stairs to land with a thump and a moan on the hard wooden floor. "Levi! What in God's name are you doing out of…did you really just fall down the stairs? What happened?"

"I don't know, I just got here," he snapped sarcastically. "You took too long to come back; with the others gone I became worried." Eren tried to help him up only to have his hands come away bloody. The wound had split open again. "They're here; it means that Erwin is alive. Bring him here."

"And leave you lying on the floor? Like hell!"

"Yeager!"

"Eren, go!" Both looked up in surprise to see her standing on the stairs; there was an impassive expression on her face, but he could tell from her posture that she understood that something was very wrong. "I'll take him back to bed." She told him, descending the remaining stairs. "You're wasting time arguing with him; I know that you don't want to leave but you don't have a choice."

Gritting his teeth against the protests that wanted to stream forth he allowed his sister to take the weight of the other's slight form onto her shoulders and turned to the others. "How far?"

"Not far." Marco said, appearing out of the shadowy corridor with Sasha at his side. "If we leave now, we can make the round trip in 15 minutes if we run."

"We're running." Eren told them flatly. "Let's go." Within the blink of an eye they were streaking across the grass with the cold wind whipping through their hair. "Care to tell me what the hell you guys were doing there?"

"They're legendary warriors from Levi's reign; we were there in hopes of finding help from them."

"Mind sharing what you were doing there?" Jean snapped.

"They saved us from the Sabbath; they're his old Coven. Allies." That was all the explanation that he felt he needed to give. Silence fell and persisted until they reached their destination.

"We're here." They skidded to a stop in front of an old abandoned office building just as Erwin and Hanji were running out to meet them.

"She senses you coming," he offered in answer to the surprised look that Eren gave him. "Where's Levi?"

"Back at the house; he told me to get you." He said. "It's bad; he's bleeding!"

"Jean, gather the others and lead them to the house. I'll go ahead with Eren to see if there is anything that can be done for Levi."

"Yes, Sir. Right away."

Satisfied that they would follow his directions Erwin turned his attention to Eren. "Lead the way."


	14. Shadows

The stairs seemed to go on forever, the hallway stretching to infinity. By the time he reached the right door and pushed it open Eren thought himself at risk of going insane. Levi lay listless on the bed, dark blood soaking through the bandages that they had attempted to bind his wound with along with the sheets beneath him. Only the slight moan of pain that escaped his lips revealed him the be conscious. The situation, he was sure, was dire; this was further cemented by the furrowing of Erwin's thick eyebrows.

"I will do what I can for him, Eren." He assured on seeing the younger's expression of distress. "Please, give us some time if you would." Not wanting to leave, Eren still allowed himself to be dragged out of the room by his sister. Time passed painfully slow; minutes felt like hours. He'd sit down. Get up. Pace. Sit down. Get up. Pace more. Finally, Eren could take it no longer; it had been an hour so far with no word. Had something happened? Had he taken a turn for the worst? Had he died? He walked through the hall back towards the room, only to stop outside the door when he heard voices from the other side.

"…Consider the consequences Levi. This won't hold forever; if you don't make the bond with him you will die."

Erwin's voice was followed by a weak, dry laugh from Levi. "I'll die either way, Erwin. I'm rather sure that it now comes down to a simple matter of when."

"Believe me when I tell you that there is nothing simple about any of this. From what I know to be true of a Sevant's powers, if you were to make the bond with Eren you would be completely healed."

"And for what?" he demanded with a hiss of pain. "To shackle him with that? He wasn't like me, Erwin; he had a family who cares for him. Has one still. I stole that from him and that is more than crime enough; to ask that of him? I couldn't! I've no right!"

"You care for him, don't you. Love him even. I can hear it in your voice. I've seen it in the way that you look at him when you think no one else is watching. So why are you so adverse to the prospect of having him as a mate?" Erwin asked him. "If you don't, you'll die in two days time."

"Have you ever thought for a moment, Erwin, that perhaps I'd rather die that condemn him to that for the benefit of none but my own?"

It was in that moment that Eren realized this conversation was one he hadn't been meant to overhear. Not wanting to risk being caught, he crept away quickly with the fact that Levi had only days left once again weighing heavy on his heart and the words that he had heard a shadow on his mind.

It had bothered him none stop all night and well into the proceeding day, and finally the next night he'd had enough and sought out Marco to ask for his advise.

"Eren," on noticing his presence, the other looked up from the book that he'd been reading. "Is something the matter?"

"…well, sort of. I was wondering if…you could explain somethings to me." The words cae out sounding as shaky as he felt; it was like being a third grader in elementary school preparing to ask their health teacher where babies came from. "You're with…Jean…so you would know, right? About…how does that…mates?" he now officially felt like an idiot.

"Jean and I are intended; it's the stage before actually becoming mates, a lot like being enfianced before a marriage. We're waiting to go through with it until we are no longer newbloods, so I'm not sure exactly how it works." He informed him. "Krista and Ymir would probably know more about it, but if you really want to know you'd probably be better off asking one of the adults. I think Hanji is in the kitchen."

"Right, thanks Marco."

There was no way that he was asking Petra or one of the other four, there was too much of a risk of it getting back to the one person he most definitely didn't want finding out. Ymir would ask too many questions and God knew he didn't want to think about what would happen with her in possession of any of that information. Hanji would question him about it too, but she was easy enough to redirect with minor distractions that he felt safe in broaching the subject. As Marco had said he found her in the kitchen and managed to grate out the mortifying question for a second time.

"Why would you be asking about that?" she inquired, staring down at him through her thick rimmed glasses.

"N-No particular reason, I just figured it was something that might be good to know….For future reference." He was happy with how believable that ended up sounding.

"Well it's a simple process, really. Both of the two, naturally, have to be at least somewhat willing. And it can only be done once in your life, which is usually why there's a period of time where the two are 'intended' But once it's decided there's an exchange of blood and then sex to seal the bond. Mind you, this is the simplified version."

"Thanks, Hanji." He called, hurrying out of the kitchen before the risk that she could possibly put any of the pieces together became too great.

_I wonder if I should have told him that the exchange has to be made through the neck?_ Shrugging, she turned back to the fridge. _I'm sure he'll figure it out._


End file.
